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2007 All Africa Games:-
Blida, Algeria, |
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News Teams Results
Standings
Photos Match schedule |
Semifinal
Classic derby between Egypt
and Tunisia in the Men’s final, Algeria- Cameroon in the Women’s
 Blida,
Algeria, July 21, 2007-: The final of men’s volleyball
competition of All Africa games will be a classic one between
the two big compatriots Egypt and Tunisia, while the final of
the women’s will feature the organizers Algeria meeting the
coming big force Cameroon after the semifinal matches of the
ninth All Africa Games here at Moustafa Tchaker hall in Blida,
Algeria on Saturday. Egypt meets Tunisia on Sunday in the Men’s
final, while Cameroon plays Algeria in the Women’s final.
Algeria men play Kenya for the bronze medal, while Kenya meets
Seychelles for the women’s bronze.
Egypt men defeated the organizers Algeria in the competition’s
most exciting match that made more than 7000 spectators on their
toes for more than 8 hours of exciting volleyball. Tunisia made
it to final after another exciting game against the coming new
force Kenya to make another derby between Egypt and Tunisia in
the final.
Algeria women put the cheer on the fasces of the big crowd by
their victory over the African champions Kenya to qualify to the
final with the newcomers Cameroon who defeated Seychelles.
The matches were attended by CAVB President Dr. Amr Elwani,
CAVB Vice presidents, Mr. Tubby Reddy, Mr. Luis Timba, Mr. Baba
Sy and Algerian Federation President Mr. Okba Gougam.
Men’s Competition
Egypt men will defend their title for the second time in a raw
after their valuable victory over Algeria in front of more than
7000 excited spectators 3-1 (25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 25-21) in 101
minutes full of thrills. Egypt was better in most of the
volleyball skills specially their spike and floater service as
well as the solid block which prevented the Algerians from using
their well known spikers. Egypt plays Tunisia in the final,
while Algeria meets Kenya for the bronze medal.
The Egyptian team started the match using the strong spike
service which disturbed the Algerian reception. This helped the
Egyptians to build up their attacks using the strong spikes of
Ahmed Salah and Hamdy El Safi to reach to 8-4 by the first
technical time out. The Egyptians deployed their solid block of
Mohamed El Sayed and Kemsan to control the net and continue
leading 16-11. Algerian arranged their backline defense and
improved the reception to start their attacks using the strong
left handed opposite Mahdi Hachemi and the wing spiker Ali
Kerboua to come near 20-19. The Egyptian coach Ahmed Zakaria
made a valuable substitution when he plays with the server Saleh
Fathy to score 4 successive points before ending the set 25-21.
The Algerian team appeared in a different performance in the
second set specially in block and defense, so they led till
reaching
8-5 by the FTT through the wing spiker Hichem Guemmadi who used
the intelligent spikes to make his team reach to 16-12 by the
STT. Egypt again used the spike service of Ahmed Salah to
disturb more the Algerian reception so Egypt got the draw 20-20
before leading 24-22. Algeria returned back with their skillful
hits to draw 24-24, before the better Egyptians ended the set
27-25.
Algeria started the third set with some new players from the
bench as they succeeded many time to penetrate the solid
Egyptian block and lead 8-6 by the FTT. Again Egypt used the big
gum Ahmed Salah to bring back the draw 20-20. Egyptian players
fell into some reception and spiking mistakes whereas Algeria
used the spikes of Tawfik Belaid and Guemmadi to win the set
25-23.
The fourth set was very exciting as the Egyptians wanted to end
the match and the Algerians seek the draw so Algeria was the
leader due to the skills of their setter Yassine Hakmi who his
team to lead before Egypt reached to 11-8. Algeria again used
the strong spike service of Hakmi to draw 11-11. Again Egypt
used the different combinations led by the efficient setter
Abdalla Abdel Salam to reach to 16-13. Algeria used the well
known service of Hachemi to draw 16-16. Again Egypt controlled
the net through El Sayed and Shaarawy to win the set 25-21 and
the match 3-1.
Tunisia fought hard for 95 minutes to clinch a difficult
victory over the struggling Kenya 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 29-27,
25-18). Tunisia qualified to the final to meet, while Kenya
plays for the bronze medal against in their first appearance in
the semifinal.
The match went point by point in the first set till the Kenyan
players fell into frequent service and spiking mistakes to allow
Tunisia to have the first lead 8-6 by the first technical time
out. Tunisia became the better side thereafter and used the
opposite Tarek Sammeri and the centers Bilel Ben Hussine and
Mohamed Trabelsi to advance 16-12 before ending the set 25-19
after a group of efficient spikes from Salem Mejri and Sammeri
in 19 minutes.
Tunisia deployed their solid block against the Kenyan attacks
and succeeded to lead 8-5 by the FTT. Kenya showed dramatic
improvement in their reception and build up the attacks
successfully through the setter Elisha Aliwa. The most prominent
player in this improvement was the opposite Philip Mayo who had
frequent successful hits above the Tunisian block. Tunisia
improved their defense to come near again till the Kenyans won
the set 25-23 after a strong hit from Mayo in 28 minutes.
The third set was the most exciting part of the match as
Tunisia used the strong wing spiker Khalid Belaid to penetrate
the disciplined Kenyan block so they lead 8-6 in the third set.
The match went to thrills when both teams went point by point as
Tunisia used the fast attacks through the middles which was not
controlled by the Kenyan block while Kenya used the strong
attacks from positions 2 and 4 to penetrate the block from the
terminals of the net. Kenya lost three set points before Tunisia
settled the set to their side 29-27 in 26 minutes.
Tunisian team became more motivated in the fourth set, while
the Kenyans were affected by losing the exciting third set, so
Kenya team fell in many reception mistakes to allow Tunisia to
lead widely 8-4. The head coach of Tunisia played with the
server Sami Sellami many times to use the disturbance in their
opponent reception. By the time the Kenyans lost their
concentration while the Tunisian team increased their fast
attacks to win the set 25-18 in 22 minutes and the match 3-1.
Women competition
Algeria Women played their best match when they defeated the
reigning African champions Kenya 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) in 74
minutes full of volleyball thrills and actions. The Algerian
super star Faiza Tsabet played a historic match not only with
her 15 points scored in the match which gave her the match
scorer, but also with her wise leadership during the critical
parts of the match. The French based Algerian centre Lydia
Olumou played also a great match and won many critical points
specially with the fast attacks from position 3 which disturbed
the Kenyan block.
The Algerian players were highly motivated by the big spectator
attendance so they started the match with their big attacking
power led by the wing spiker Faiza Tsabet from position 4 and
Lydia Olumou from position 2 to lead 8-4. Kenya came to the
match through the strong attackers Catherine Wanjiru and Docoras
Ndasaba to reach the draw 10-10. It went point by point after
that till the draw 23-23, when the Kenyan team fell in two
mistakes to allow the Algerians to win the first set 25-23.
In the second set Kenya deployed their block through the
middles Leonidas Kamande and Jackline Barasa to stop the
Algerian spikes and succeeded to lead 8-6. Algeria started to
use the fast attacks and succeeded to draw 10-10 and 12-12. The
Algerian setter Fatima Oukazi used the short setting to Olumou
in position 3 and succeeded to regain the lead till they won the
set 25-22.
The third set showed excessive activity for the Kenyan players
trying to save the match as they improved their block and
backline defense to lead 10-8. The performance of the Algerian
players reached to the maximum as the match star Faiza played
her best in attacks and blocking to bring most of the points to
the Algerian team to win the third set widely 25-20 and the
match in straight sets.
Cameroon succeeded to use their prominent stars by the net in
spiking and blocking to achieve a strait sets victory over
Seychelles 3-0 (25-26, 25-16, 25-18) in 60 minutes. Cameroon
qualified to the final while Seychelles plays for the bronze
medal. Cameroon started the first set using their efficient the
team’s best scorer Rebecca Ngo and the middle blocker Avebe
Minsili to lead from the start 8-6. They used also the different
combinations through their setter Rose Beleng to win the first
set 25-16.
In the second set Seychelles team came to the match and
arranged their backline defense against the strong spikes of
Cameroon team to come near 16-18. They improved also their block
through Tina Agathine and Jerina Bonne and succeeded to stop
Cameroon attacks temporary before the fell into frequent
reception mistakes to lose the set in the same score 25-16.
Seychelles team tried to save the match as they improved their
defense but Cameroon attacks was much stronger to be faced
specially the star Ngo who scored 13 points and was the match
scorer and the centre Minsili who scored 12 points.
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By Tarek Al Adwar CAVB Press
Officer |
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