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Big start for the favorite
teams and Zimbabwe champions disqualified
 Niamey,
Niger April 21, 2007-: All the big favorite teams achieved
victories in the opening day of the twenty sixth Men’s
Volleyball African Clubs Champions Championship here at both
Palais des Sports and Academie Des Arts Martiaux halls in
Niamey, Niger on Saturday. The defending champions Al Ahly,
Mouloudia of Algeria and both Cameroon teams FAP and Port Douala
achieved all their competition’s first win. El Guish of Egypt,
GSU of Kenya clinched victories while Bulldogs of Zimbabwe
becomes officially disqualified for their declaration of late
arrival.
The competition was opened in Presence of the big sports
authority characters led by the Minister of Sports Mr. Abdoul-
Rahmane Seydou and Niger National Olympic Committee President
Mr. Mamadou Doulla Talata.
The opening ceremony was also attended by Control Committee
President Mr. Baba Sy, SOC delegates Mr. Okba Gougam and Mr.
Morakinyo, Referee Delegate Mr. Majeed Djirad, CAVB Technical
Director Mrs. Howyda Mondy and Niger Volleyball Federation
President Mr. Amada Sidiyane.
 El
Guish of Egypt overcame the organizers ASVB of Niger which was
supported by 3000 spectators 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-16). Al Guish
used his strong left attackers Eslam Awad and Mohamed Radwan and
controlled the net through the tall centers Ibrahim Rashwan and
the Nigerian professional player Emmanuel Friday. Niger team
played good volleyball specially in the second set when Guish
coach used some of his bench players to give them the chance to
play before the more tough matches in the competition and their
spiker Amadou Alichina was one of the match stars.
El Guish head coach Foad Abdel Salam was satisfied with his
team’s performance in this match and thus he tried to involve
most of his list of players. “We want to train well before the
coming matches where we will face stronger teams. Today I used
most of my players and we depended on the strong spikes from the
left flank using Mohamed Radwan and Awad to penetrate their
defense.” Said Foad.
ASVB Head coach Yacobou Harouna was satisfied also with the
performance of his players and he referred the result to the
difference in experience between both teams.
 The
defending champions Al Ahly started their journey to defend
their title with a wide victory over University of Rwanda in
competition Pool B in straight sets 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 26-24).
Ahly head coach insists to use his substitutes after the second
set so the match was close in the third set.
“We played with all our players because I felt that we will win
easily 3-0 but the Rwandan team showed their quality in the
third set and came near to win that set.
The second match in pool B between University Calavi of Benin
and Bulldogs of Zimbabwe was cancelled due to non arrival of
Zimbabwe team and is considered losing 3-0 (25-0, 25-0, 25-0).
Bulldogs informed the organizing committee that the team will
arrive on Monday 23 April which means that they are considered
disqualified for this competition.
FAP of Cameroon fought for more than two hours to clinch their
first victory over the surprising Tiko of Madagascar after a
thriller five set match sets (25-18, 27-25, 20-25, 21-25, 18-16)
in the competition pool C at Palais Des Sports Hall. After the
Cameroon team won the first two sets with their efficient spikes
of Robert Samou and Main Fossi, Tiko showed brave performance
and succeeded to win two successive sets after their efficient
wing spiker Rasa Mison who was chosen by both coaches as the
match star did his best. The experience played a great role in
the tiebreak and FAP caught the critical victory after the
opening day’s most exciting match match.
“We played against much respected team today and I’m happy to
achieve this victory in our first match and I think we will
improve in the next matches when we accommodate on the
circumstances of this competition.” Said FAP Head coach Maiam
Blaise. “The Madagascar team managed their situation well in the
third and fourth sets and they used their wing spikers to
penetrate our block but we managed this well in the tie break.”
He added.
 On
the other hand Tiko Head coach Hery Andria was proud of his
team’s performance although he lost the fantastic match. “We had
to fight in the third set to save the match and we succeeded to
do that with the high performance of our star Rasa Mison, but we
fell in some mistakes in the tie break.
Mouloudia of Algeria won the fastest match in the opening day
3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-13) over Defense Sport of Ethiopia in only
55 minutes. The Algerian team showed that they are coming to
compete for the crown with their prominent stars specially
Hassan Sola and Ali Kerboua.
Another thriller match extended to tie break was more
interesting when Port Douala of Cameroon rebounded from one set
behind 1-2 to achieve 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-21, 23-25, 27-25,
16-14) over the emerging Inter Club of Congo Brazzaville in the
competition best match in Pool D. Inter showed very modern
volleyball and had the match point several times in the fourth
set before they lost the critical set 27-25 then they struggled
in the tie break and lost narrowly 16-14.
 GSU
of Kenya overcame their fatigue after their late arrival to
Niger and succeeded to achieve a straight sets victory over
Mugher Cement of Ethiopia (25-21, 25-20, 25-21) in their pool D
match at Academie Des Arts Martiaux hall. Although the Kenyan
team looked tired but they controlled the match all through and
led by their experienced stars Elphas Biwott and David Opiyo.
The Ethiopian team appeared competitive in some parts of the
match but again the Kenyans were dominating the net.
GSU head coach Moses Epoloto was cheered to achieve this victory
although his team’s fatigue. “We want to continue our victories
in our competitive pool to qualify to the second round. We were
affected by the hot weather since we arrived and I think we will
be in better performance in the next match.” He said
Photo Caption:
FAP vs. Tiko
Tiko Head coach interviewed
Big guests in the tribune Lt to Rt Niger OC President Talata, CC
President Baba Sy, Minister of sports Seydou, Niger VB President
Amada
Opening ceremony
Big spectator attendance
Jury table
Guish Vs. ASVB |
