semifinal
KC Bank of Kenya and
Al Ahly of Egypt to the final
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Nairobi,
Kenya, April 4, 2009- KC Bank of Kenya and
Al Ahly of Egypt qualified to the final of
the 2009 Women’s African clubs Championship
following their victories over Bejaia of
Algeria and Injis of Cameroon in the
semifinal held here at Moi International
Sports Complex of Kasarani in Nairobi, Kenya
on Saturday. KCB meets Al Ahly in a classic
Kenyan- Egyptian final of the competition
final on Sunday while Bejaia plays Injis for
the bronze medal.
The final day will
feature also five other matches for the
final ranking of the competition: APR
(Rwanda) vs. Bafia (Cameroon) for 5 and 6
positions, Kutlwano (Botswana) vs. Water
Sports (Ethiopia) for the 7 and 8 positions,
Prisons (Kenya) vs. Jadida (Morocco) for the
9 and 10, Canon (RD Congo) vs. Federal
prisons for the 11 and 12, VC Club (RD
Congo) vs. Les AS (Burundi) for the 13 and
14. The last two positions are already
determined after the withdrawal pof
Pipelines of Kenya and thus Kampala VC of
Uganda secured the 15th position.
Semifinal 1-4
KC Bank (Kenya) vs.
Bejaia (Algeria)
KCB Veteran Margret
Tsinyeni and the brilliant attacker Jackline
Barasa led their team to the final of the
competitions after they cruised past Bejaia
of Algeria 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18)
in a thriller semifinal. KCB started the
match depending on their left attacker
Jackline and Grace Jeptoo who was chosen by
her coach as the match star as they
penetrated the Algerian defense regularly to
win the first set 25-22. Bejaia team
improved their reception in the second set
and used their strong left attacker Nawel
Mansouri to win the second set after they
turned the score to their side in the last
few points. In the third set the strong
service of KCB disturbed the Algerian
defense as they went easily to win the set.
The fourth set showed changing in the
strategy of KCB as they turned to the fast
setting to the middle blocker Margret who
scored more than half of the last critical
points to win the set and the match 3-1.
KCB Head coach
Japheth Mnala stated that he tried the last
training for the team to avoid the mistakes
done during the last matches specially in
the reception and this was the most
important cause of the victory. “I’m fond of
my attacker Grace Jeptoo who applied our
strategy today. We faced a good team today
but we succeeded to deal with through our
talents and now we are looking forwards for
the title.” He said.
Bejaia Head coach
Aimad Saidani referred the defeat to the
overload of the players as a result of their
strong matches till the quarterfinal. “We
had a problem to deal with the fast attacks
of the Kenyan team. They were very fast
today and my players couldn’t deal with that
style. We missed also our libero who was
sick since yesterday.” Aimad said.
KCB Qualified to the
final for the second time in their history
to face Al Ahly in the final while Bejaia
will play for the bronze medal against Injis
of Cameroon.
Al Ahly (Egypt) vs.
Injis (Cameroon)
Al Ahly of Egypt cut
the second ticket to the final which is
considered the tenth for them in the history
of the prestigious competition following
their respective victory over Injis of
Cameroon 3-0 (25-8, 25-22, 25-13) in the
second semifinal match.
Al Ahly had a
fantastic start as they controlled the net
through the middle blockers Ingy El Shami
and Mona Aly and also used the fast attacks
through Hagar Badr to win the set widely
25-8. The second set showed early
disciplined line up for Cameroon team
through the setter Nack Theodora who led the
team to disturb Ahly block through her
combinations to Roline Tatchou and Nouistte
Mendouga so they led until 16-11 by the
second technical timeout. Ahly coach changed
the position of some players as he played
with Ingy as a right attacker and applied
the fast combinations to both Hagar and Ingy
to win the strong set 25-22. The Egyptian
team returned the dominance in the third set
as the setter Miral Raouf led her team with
her mystery to control the net with Ingy El
Shamy who played her best with the team to
win the set 25-13.
Al Ahly head coach
was cheered because his players applied his
strategy that depended on using the strong
spike service to disturb his opponent
reception to deprive them from using the
fast attacks. “I studied my opponent well
and I noticed that their setter is brilliant
in leading the fast attacks so I tried my
best to stop this. “I’m happy to see my
players performing their best in the
competition. Today I put the setter Miral
Raouf and Ingy El Shami as the best players
in the match but also I want to thank also
my attacker Nahal Sameh for her high
spirit.” Raouf said.
Although they lost
the match, Injis head coach was happy with
his team outcome in this competition. “My
players are very young and it is good now to
reach this stage of the competition,” He
said. “Now I’m thinking of the Bronze medal
tomorrow against Bejaia.” He added.
Semifinal 5-8
Bafia (Cameroon) vs.
Water Sports (Ethiopia)
Bafia team of
Cameroon fought for 2 hours to rebound from
2 sets behind to win a long Marathon of five
sets 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-11)
against Water Sports of Ethiopia. Water
Sports team won the first and second sets
through their disciplined backline defense
and proper reception. They also closed the
net through their better block and it was
thought that the Ethiopian team is going
towards straight sets victory but Bafia
turned the table when they won the third set
comfortably. The Cameroon players have
become more motivated to win the fourth set
and the tie break after marvelous
performance from all the team stars.
Bafia plays for the
fifth and sixth positions against APR of
Rwanda, while Water sports team meets
Kutlwano for the seventh and eighth
positions.
APR (Rwanda) vs.
Kutlwano (Botswana)
APR of Rwanda
continued their superior performance and set
a considerable victory over Kutlwano of
Botswana 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-23) in 68
minutes. After APR won comfortably the first
set due to the efficient spikes of the team
captain Dorcas Ndasaba, the Botswana team
emerged and became good competitors at the
net action during the second and third sets.
Kutlwano was near to win both sets but with
the experience of APR players they settled
both sets to their side.
APR plays for the 5
and 6 positions against Bafia of Cameroon,
while Kutlwano meets Water Sports of
Ethiopia for the 7 and 8 positions.
Semifinal 9-12
Prisons of Kenya flew
past Canon Ndjili of RD Congo 3-0 (25-16,
25-14, 25-16) in a match showing the least
effort from the winner. Prisons led by the
efficient spiker Lydia Maiyo overwhelmed the
net action through the better reception that
allowed them to apply the attacking
strategy.
Prisons plays for the
9 and 10 positions against Jadida of
Morocco, while Canon Plays for the 11 and 12
position against Federal Prisons of
Ethiopia.
Olympic of Jadida of
Morocco continued their victory rhythm in
the second round as they defeated Federal
Prisons of Ethiopia 3-1 (25-18, 27-25,
23-25, 25-23). Jadida started the match
aggressively using the attacks through the
wing spikers Siham Atoul and Meryem Habity
to win the first set, then Prisons came
through in the second set but the Moroccan
team succeeded to win the set narrowly 27-25
before winning the third set. In the fourth
set again Jadida regained their rhythm to
win the match 3-1.
Jadida plays Prisons
for the 9th and 10th
positions while Federal Prisons plays Canon
Semifinal 13-16
VC Club of Congo
defeated Kampala VC of Uganda 3-0 (25-22,
27-25, 25-16) in a match showing full
dominance for the Congo team. VC Club plays
Les AS of Burundi for the 13 and 14
positions, while Kampala finished the
competition at the 15th position
due to the early withdrawal of Pipelines of
Kenya.
Pipelines declaring
their withdrawal from the competition on
Friday were considered losers in their
supposed match against Les AS of Burundi.
Les AS plays VC of Congo for the 13 and 14
positions. Pipelines finished the
competition at the 16th and last
position
Semifinal Results
1-4 positions
KCB (Kenya) Bejaia
(Algeria) 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18)
Ahly (Egypt) vs. Injis
(Cameroon) 3-0 (25-8, 25-22, 25-13)
5-8 positions
APR (Rwanda) vs.
Kutlwano (Botswana) 3-0 (25-13, 25-23,
25-23)
Bafia (Cameroon) vs.
Water Sports (Ethiopia) 3-2 (23-25, 22-25,
25-17, 25-22, 15-11)
9-12 positions
Prisons (Kenya) vs.
Canon (RD Congo) 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16)
Jadida (Morocco) vs.
Fed Prisons 3-1 (25-18, 27-25, 23-25, 25-23)
13-16 positions
VC Club (RD Congo) vs.
Kampala (Uganda) 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-16)
Les AS (Burundi) vs.
Pipelines ….Pipelines withdraw
Final Program
Final:
Ahly (Egypt) vs. KC Bank (Kenya)
3-4 Position:
Bejaia (Algeria) vs. Injis (Cameroon)
5-6 Positions:
APR (Rwanda) vs. Bafia (Cameroon)
7-8 Positions:
Kutlwano (Botswana) vs. Water Sports
(Ethiopia)
9-10 Positions:
Prisons (Kenya) vs. Jadida (Morocco)
11-12 Positions:
Federal Prisons (Ethiopia) vs. Canon Ndjili
(RD Congo)
13-14 Positions:
VC Club (Congo) vs. Les AS (Burundi)
15-16 Positions:
Kampala VC (Uganda) vs. Pipelines
…..Pipelines withdraw
