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First victory for the
big favorites Egypt, Algeria and Morocco
 Tunis,
Tunisia, August 24, 2008- the defending champions Egypt
and the big contenders Algeria and Morocco joined the
organizers Tunisia as winners of the first day of the
2008 Men’s African Nations Championship following their
victories over Botswana, Cameroon and Benin respectively
here at Sidi Bousaid Hall in Tunis, Tunisia on Sunday.
Tunisia and Egypt led both competition pools before the
big clashes of the competition day two when Tunisia
meets Cameroon in Pool A and Egypt meets Morocco in the
match of the day on Monday.
Egypt vs. Botswana
The defending champion Egypt needed less than an hour to
edge the less experienced Botswana team in straight sets
25-13, 25-16, 25-11. The potent spike service was the
Egyptian main tool in the match and was used well to
disturb Botswana team reception who was less experienced
to deal with. Egypt ended day 1 at the top of pool B
ahead of Morocco by the point ratio with a record of
1-0, while Botswana dropped at the bottom of the pool
with 0-1 record.
The Egyptian coach Emad Nawar was cheered with his
team’s performance and also with the standard of the
substitutes. “I managed to play with all my players list
today to change the strategy of the play and also to
give them all the chance before the more important games
in the pool and finals.” Said Egyptian Head coach. “We
started the match using the middle blockers in the fast
attacks specially Mamdou Abdel Moneim, then we changed
the strategy using the spike service and wing spikers
and thus I used all my players’ skills.” He added.
On the other hand Botswana head coach Carlos Fellove was
satisfied with his players putting in consideration that
they don’t have enough experience with the international
competitions. “We came her to learn and get the
international experience and thus I have nothing to lose
in this competition. I think also our main problem was
the reception as this didn’t allow us to build up the
attacks.” Carlos said.
The match started as a one side game for the Egyptian
side due to the activity of the centers Mamdouh Abdel
Moneim and Mohamed Anis in blocking and fast attacks so
it was easy for Egypt to lead 8-2 at the first technical
timeout (FTT). Botswana improved their block and
backline defense to decrease the point deficit gradually
till the result became 16-7 at the second technical
timeout (STT). Egypt players fell into many service
mistakes and this allowed Botswana to decrease the
difference to 19-11 before the Egyptian opposite Mohamed
Khattab did well in spiking from position 2 till Egypt
won the set 25-13.
 In
the second set Egypt coach replaced the setter Mohamed
Badr by the other setter Ahmed El Lakany as Botswana
improved their attacks better than the first set through
Miho Mabikwa and Kabo Moetoe so they kept the result
near till 8-5 for Egypt at the FTT. Egypt used the
strong spike service of Khattab and Ahmed Abdel Aal
which wasn’t tolerated by Botswana receivers and thus
Egypt continued leading 16-8 at the STT. Egypt had the
upper hand in all the net action to win the set 25-16.
The third set showed complete Egyptian dominance as
Botswana team didn’t score till 9-0 due to the disturbed
reception. The Egyptian coach used all the bench players
to give them the chance to emerge before the stronger
matches and thus Egypt won the set widely 25-11.
Morocco vs. Benin
Morocco took over Benin 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-17) in 64
minutes due to their dominance in block and defense.
Morocco came at the second position in pool B with 1-0
record, while Benin came third with 0-1 record.
Morocco took the lead through the activity of Youssef
Oughlaf from position 2 and also the fast attacks
through the center Wassim Zdaa till they reached 8-5 at
the FTT. Benin team improved their reception and
backline defense for a while to improve the score
through the spikes of Romainio Houndeladji and David
Mignigano. Morocco again used the service to facilitate
the job to win the set 25-16.
In the second set Morocco was better in reception and
serving while Benin team did frequent mistakes that
allowed Morocco to lead 8-3 at the FTT. Morocco coach
started to use the substitutes and changed the main
setter and continued their efficient spikes through Zdaa
and Mohamed Alaoui to finish the set 25-14.
Benin struggled in the third set as they deployed their
block of Raimou Gahoue and stayed near till morocco led
at the FTT 8-6. Benin improved their combinations led by
the setter Aly Salim and spikes of Raimou, but quickly
Morocco returned back to their rhythm and the attacker
Zaki Abdalloui did well to allow his team to go through
and win the set 25-17 and the match in straight sets.
Morocco head coach Mohamed Abdallaoui considered the
match as a training for the next match against Egypt so
he introduced some of the substitutes and decreased the
momentum of the match at the end to keep the potential
of his team in the match of the pool against Egypt. “I
tried to test most of my players before the main face of
against Egypt tomorrow,” Said the coach. “We used the
centers at the beginning of the match but thereafter we
used the wing spikers who did well specially Zaki
Abdallaoui who was the match star in my opinion.” He
added.
On the other hand Benin head coach Antonnin Guedegbe
considered the result as normal putting in consideration
that this is the first ever participation for Benin in
this age category. “As this is our first experience I
consider that my team did well and we promise to improve
in the next matches.”
Cameroon vs. Algeria
 Algeria
clinched a respectable victory over the strong Cameroon
team 3- (25-15, 25-16, 25-17) in 66 minutes using their
skillful combinations led by the experienced setter
Debbih Messaoud who deceived Cameroon block by his
setting to the backline players who did well specially
Billal Soualem and Djihad Nourani. Algeria’s record
becomes 1-0 to lead the pool, while Cameroon dropped to
0-1.
Algeria head coach Belgacem was happy with the
performance as well as the victory against a strong
team. “We played the strongest team away from the North
African forces and I think this made our victory
valuable.” The Algerian coach said. Cameroon coach
referred the defeat to the big shortage in his squad and
lack of the key players.
The first set showed early Algerian dominance through
the unstoppable hits of the Algerian attackers specially
Billal Soualem and Seif Messalta as they were more
efficient in their spikes and reached to 8-6 at the FTT.
Cameroon started to enter the match through improving
their b lock of Karl Tchokouani and Tete Ntonga and
succeeded to maintain near till the middle of the set
when Algeria used their razor sharp spike services that
disturbed Cameroon defense and they won the set 25-15.
In the beginning of the second set Cameroon team was
more disciplined and used efficient spikes of David
Fevghouo to lead several times until Algeria returned
back to lead 8-6 at the FTT. Cameroon drew 8-8 before
Algeria used the backline players to attack and deceive
the block and lead 16-9 at the STT. Although Cameroon
struggled through the improved attacks through Jean
Ntabeye, Algeria had the upper hand to win the set
25-16.
The third set showed Cameroon doing their best to save
the match as they improved the block but still the
Algerian side was better in service and backline attacks
to lad 8-7 at the FTT. Algeria find their way therafter
to win the set 25-17 and the match in straight sets.
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