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2007 Women’s
African Nations Championship
Nairobi,
Kenya, |
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News Teams Results
Standings
Photos Match schedule
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Kenya, Senegal and Tunisia set
first victory, Algeria stars of the day
 Nairobi,
Kenya, September 5, 2007-: All the big favorite teams, the hosts
and defending champions Kenya, the All Africa games gold
medalists Algeria, the emerging Tunisia and the new comers
Senegal achieved their first victory in the opening day of the
16th Women’s African Nations Championship here at Moi
International Sports Centre in Kasarani, Nairobi- Kenya on
Wednesday. The last All Africa games silver medalists Cameroon
were the big losers of the opening as they were clashed with the
big contenders for the cup Algeria. Tunisia beat South Africa
while the defending champions defeated Botswana. Senegal swept
the low experienced Rwandan team.
It is well known that the competition will be qualifying for the
prestigious FIVB event, the 2007 World Cup in Japan next
November.
The matches were attended by the Algerian Ambassador in Kenya
Mr. Ali Ben Zarga, Control Committee President Mr. Tom Omongole,
who expressed his gratitude to Kenya for the good organization
after the last minute withdrawal of Kenya Volleyball, CAVB
Technical Director Mrs. Howyda Mondy, Kenya volleyball
Federation President Mr. Waithaka Kioni, and CC members Mr.
Jacob Owiti and Mr. Salamba.
Kenya used a mixture of the experienced players who shared in
the last victory in 2005 and the younger generation who replaced
the old players gaining only the bronze in the last All Africa
games to pull of their first victory over Botswana 3-0 (25-10,
25-14, 25-16) in 59 minutes in pool A.
 Kenya
head coach, Sammy Kirongo was happy with both the victory and
the performance of his players putting Docoras Ndasaba,
Bracksides Agala and the young center Diana Khisa as the match
stars. “We had very bad performance in All Africa Games last
July and we changed 5 players in the squad and I’m happy that
this trial succeeded to provide a new team that can now keep the
crown in our country.” Said Sammy cheerfully.
Botswana head coach, Carlos Orta Fellove was not sad for the
defeat because he knows that his team is less experienced than
the Kenyans. “We played the best team in this tournament and I
think we came here to get the experience of these big
competitions.” He said.
Kenya used the experienced players specially the strong left
attacker Docoras Ndasaba and the setter Janet Wanja to make the
difference from the start of the match, the first through her
unstoppable spikes and the second with her skillful combinations
an that allowed Kenya to win the set widely 25-10. in the second
set Botswana was better specially in the first part so they
decreased the point deficit to 25-14. In the third set Botswana
did their best to return back to the match but the more
experienced Kenyans.
Algeria defeated Cameroon 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 25-11) in a
thriller match lasting 96 minutes of exciting volleyball in the
competition Pool A. Algeria Head Coach Mouloud Ikhedji stated
that the unsteady performance of the team throughout the match
was due to the high altitude here in Nairobi which affected the
team due to the Oxygen deficiency. “We had also the problem of
short preparation after All Africa Games in our homelands
because the duration between the two events (40 days) is not
enough to regain our physical fitness.” Mouloud Said. “We used
our strong service to end the job and also our front line
through the match star Faiza and Lydia to dominate the match” He
added.
 Cameroon
Head coach Joseph Nane was not happy after a referee decision
and he referred the bad third set his team played to the
reaction of this decision. “We lost against a better team today
but sometimes one decision makes big disturbance to any team. We
suffered from the improper reception all through the match and I
hope to improve in the next matches.” Said the coach sadly.
Cameroon started the match in good performance so they led 8-5
and 16-13 due to the efficient spikes of Rebecca Nkot and Diboue
Ruth. Algeria began to use the strong service to return back to
the match as the setter Fatima Oukazi served six successive
points to lead for the first time 17-16 before continuing 23-17
and finally Algeria won the set 25-20. The second set showed the
same as Algeria used again the service and the experience of the
strong wing spiker Fayza Tsabet and the professional center
Lydia Oloumou to win the set 25-20. Cameroon played well in the
third set improving their block and backline defense to win
25-23 after their attacker Sombang Ombassa used her skillful
spikes. Algeria returned back to their performance as Faiza
played a great role with the setter Fatima to win the fourth set
widely 25-11.
Tunisia found it easy to achieve their competition first victory
over South Africa 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-9) in 58 minutes.
Tunisia defeated their opponent through the tactical services
which stopped all the South African offensive tactics.
Tunisia head coach Lotfi Ben Slimane studied the opponent well
in their training session before the match so he used the strong
service to control the match. “We usually depend on the team
work as we have good backline defense, efficient spikers and
solid centre block. South Africa played well but finally we were
better in the previous factors.
 South
Africa head coach Abdel Hamid El Wassimy tried his best doing
many substitutions but his reception and defense didn’t allow
him to apply his attacking strategies. “We changed completely
the main players of my team and we participated now with a new
team with average age 21 years who need more experience to
compete in these continental competitions. I think we can
succeed in future to be in better form and to actually be in the
fever of the competition.” Wassimy said.
Tunisia led the match from the start using the efficient spikers
specially the team star Nihel El Ghoul and they succeeded to
penetrate the undisciplined South African block to win the first
set 25-13. The second set showed the same picture as Tunisia
maintained the pressure through the attackers as the experienced
spiker Arbia Rafrafi did well to lead her team to win 25-14.
South Africa arranged their block in the third set trying to
catch the match and so they went near in the first few points,
but later Tunisia dominate again and used the strong service to
win the set 25-9 and the match in straight sets.
Senegal played a great match both offensively and defensively to
clinch a respected victory over Rwanda 3-0 (25-11, 28-26, 25-21)
in 63 minutes in the competition pool A. Although he won the
match easier than expected the head coach of Senegal Amadou Sene
was not satisfied with his team’s performance as he thought that
his setter Aminata Gueye was not up to the match in most of the
match incidents. “If my setter is in her form we may have good
results in this competition. We have to improve our defense in
the next matches to compete for a good position in this
competition. My best player today is Bineta Ndiaye who performed
well in attacks. We applied a different strategy than that we
played with during All Africa Games in Algeria.” He added.
 Rwanda
head coach Antoine Kubwimana referred the defeat to the
disturbed defense and the improper reception. “We will try to
treat the bad reception in our second match against South Africa
tomorrow. I think my best player today was Monigue Uwinema.” He
added.
After Senegal won the first set easily 25-11, Rwanda came to the
match in the second set and led many times until Senegal used
the efficient attacks through Niane Diouck and Ndiaye to win the
set narrowly 28-26. Rwanda arranged their backline defense a
little bit to come near in the third set but Senegal came on
time at the end of the set to win 25-21 and the match in
straight sets.
Day two Programme
Pool A
Botswana vs. Cameroon
Uganda vs. Kenya
Pool B
Rwanda vs. South Africa
Egypt vs. Senegal
Photo Caption
CC President Omongole declaring the opening of the competition
Kenya vs. Botswana
Match Algeria vs. Cameroon
Match Senegal vs. Rwanda
South Africa in time out |
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