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2008
Olympic Games- Men’s African Qualifications,
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Semifinal
Egypt and
Algeria to final spot
 Durban,
South Africa February 8, 2008- After a very exciting
day fully attended by the spectators Egypt and
Algeria qualified to the final spot of the African
Olympic qualification to determine continental
representative in Beijing 2008 after the North
African neighbors cut their way towards the Olympic
ticket following their victories over Cameroon and
Tunisia respectively in the semifinal here at
Tongaat hall in Durban, South Africa on Friday.
Egypt and Algeria will meet on Saturday to determine
the African representative in 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games where the Egyptian side is searching for the
second Olympic qualification in 8 years after they
qualified for the last time in Sydney 2000, while
Algerian men want to follow the footsteps of their
women’s counterparts who have already qualified
early last month. The final will be preceded by the
bronze medal match between Tunisia and Cameroon.
It is well known that the champions of this
competition will secure the African Vacancy in the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The matches were attended by CAVB President Dr. Amr
Elwani, CAVB first Vice president and South Africa
Volleyball Federation President Mr. Tubby Reddy,
CAVB Vice president Mr. Baba Sy and Control
Committee members Mr. Camilo Antao, CAVB Referee
committee president Mr. Hassan Ahmed and CAVB
Technical director Mrs. Howyda Mondy.
Algeria vs.
Tunisia
 Algeria
fought for two hours to achieve the biggest
qualifications surprise as they defeated one of the
major favorites for the Olympic ticket, Tunisia in a
big five sets match 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25,
15-8). Algeria qualified to the final of a big
African competition for the first time since 15
years when they won the African Nations Championship
in 1993. The Algerian teams used the big guns Ali
Kerboua and Mohamed Chikhi to disturb the Tunisian
defense all through the match. On the other hand
Tunisia started the match with their well known
strength to win the first set but due to the
deterioration of the reception and block Algeria had
the upper hand until the end of the match.
Both teams started the match with the standing line
up and with the same strategy, but Tunisia was the
better side as they led 4-0 after a group of spikes
from Marouane Fehri and Hichem Kaabi putting the
Algerian coach under pressure of asking for time
out. Algeria arranged their block and defense and
got the same points like Tunisia at the FTT as
Tunisia led 8-4. Algeria began to use the two strong
left attackers Ali Kerboua and Mohamed Chikhi to
decrease the point deficit to 13-10 before Tunisia
reached to 16-12 at the STT. The Algerian block did
a good job for a while through the centers Mohamed
Oumessad and Toufik Belaid so the result reached to
20-18. Tunisia regained their intelligence of
spiking the balls beside and above the block and
continued till they won the set 25-22.
Algeria started to use their well known strong spike
service of Kerboua as well as the spikes of Chikhi
to lead 4-1. The Tunisian reception and digging was
disturbed for a while but rapidly rearranged to stop
the Algerian attacks and regained the lead at the
FTT 8-7. Tunisia changed the strategy and started to
use the fast attacks through the centers Ghezal and
Bilel Ben Hassine to lead 12-10, but Algeria
arranged their block and also depended on the fast
combinations from position 3 and led 16-15 at the
STT. Algerian block was superior and allowed them to
maintain leading 21-19 specially after the
combinations led by the setter Debbih Messaoud.
Chikhi and Toufik Madjoubi spiked intelligently
through the Tunisian block to win the set 25-22.
Algeria started the third set as the better side
while Tunisia complained of bad reception and thus
Algeria led 8-6 at the first technical time out
(FTT). Both team depended on the middle blocker for
the attacks and the Algerian side was better in this
specially they showed better defense and they led
16-14 at the second technical time out (STT). The
Tunisian coach made some substitutions and replaced
Kaabi by Karamosli so they came near till 19-18.
Kerboua led Algeria with his spikes from position 4
and also his spike service to allow his team to win
the set 25-22.
The Tunisian coach started the fourth set with the
other setter Saifeddine El Majid instead of the team
captain Ghazi Guidara and also Karamosli as right
attacker instead of Kaabi. Tunisia regained their
concentration and started leading 8-5 at the FTT due
to the impermeable block and the potent spikes led
by the setter El Majid. Tunisian block of Ben
Hassine, Ghezal and Fehri was better so they
increased the point deficit to 11-7. Tunisia used
the disturbed Algerian defense to stay leading
16-11. Algeria tried to return back to the set but
Tunisia was more organized in attack and defense to
win the set 25-20 and drew 2-2 in sets to extend the
match to tiebreak
Algeria used the weapon of spike service of Kerboua
to lead 8-1 at the court shift using the improper
Tunisian reception. Algeria continued their
superiority through the fast attacks of the centers
in position 3 to increase the point deficit to 13-3.
Tunisia tried to save the match and scored 5 points
but the Algerian more relaxed players did it and won
the tiebreak 15-8 and the match 3-2.
Egypt vs.
Cameroon
Egypt rebounded back from one set behind to win
their semifinal match against the strong Cameroon
team 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 28-26) in 101 minutes
of thriller performance that made the spectators on
their toes specially in the fourth set. Cameroon
team played a marvelous match and only lost the
critical points each set against the Egyptians who
were not in their top form specially in serving and
receiving. Cameroon head coach Mayam Blaise
surprised Egypt by playing with his star Jean Ndaki
as opposite instead of middle blocker and succeeded
to win a set and was near to win the fourth set when
they missed 3 set points.
Cameroon started the match aggressively as they used
well the Egyptian mistakes in serving and defense
and succeeded to block well Egypt through the middle
blocker El Hadj Abbas to lead 8-4 at the FTT. Egypt
coach asked for time out when the result widened to
10-5 and afterwards Egypt improved relatively their
block against Cameroon attacks and thus Egypt
decreased the point deficit to 13-10. Cameroon big
guns Wounembaina and Jean Ndaki penetrated regularly
the Egyptian block to continue leading 16-10 at the
STT. Cameroon spikers repeated their unstoppable
hits against the weak Egyptian block through Jean
Ndaki and Moussa to win the set 25-19.
Egypt started the second set with two substitutions
as the Egyptian coach replaced the setter Ashraf
Aboul Hassan by the other setter Mohamed Mahdi and
the left attacker Mohamed Abdel Moneim by Saleh
Fathy. Cameroon continued the same strategy and
depended on the rockets sent by Ndaki and
Wounembaina. Egypt improved the block to lead 5-3
but quickly they fell in the same service mistakes
to allow Cameroon to lead 8-7 at the FTT. Egypt
improved their block through Saleh Fathy and Hossam
Shaarawy and used the big gun Ahmed Salah to spike
his well known rockets from position 2 and thus
Egypt led 16-14 at the STT. Egypt continued as the
better side through the much improved block of
Mohamed Ali and Fathy to continue leading till
24-19. Cameroon scored 4 successive points before
the Egyptian team won the set 25-23.
Egypt started the third set with the same rhythm and
through the efficient services they led widely at
the FTT 8-2. Cameroon arranged their block through
Abbas and repeated their strong spike service
Wounembaina to decrease the point deficit to 9-6.
The Egyptian wing spiker Fathy did well in spiking
from both front and backline and again Egypt widen
the score to 16-10 at the STT. Egyptian coach made
many substitutions to keep the momentum and through
the spikes of Fathy and Salah Egypt continued
leading 22-16 when Cameroon coach asked for time out
to rearrange his players and he succeeded to
decrease the point deficit relatively 23-20 but
succeeded to win the set 25-21.
Cameroon improved their block in the fourth set
against the Egyptian attacks and they succeeded to
lead 8-5 after good combinations from the setter
Marcel Ndaki. Egypt rebounded back through the
unstoppable spikes of Salah and Fathy to reach to
the draw 13-13. Cameroon opposite Jean Naki served
well and Valery Tatsi spiked efficiently to allow
Cameroon to regain the lead 19-16. The match went to
the most exciting part as Cameroon led 24-21 and
lost three set points before the Egyptian coach made
frequent substitutions to save the set and he
succeeded to bring the draw |
Tunisia secure the
fourth ticket to semifinal
Durban, South Africa February 7, 2008- Tunisia
completed the final 4 teams qualified to the
semifinal of the Africa Olympic qualification to
determine continental representative in Beijing 2008
after the other three teams Egypt, Cameroon and
Algeria have already secured semifinal berth before.
Tunisia defeated Gabon in Pool B while Morocco lost
their hopes of a semifinal ticket after losing
against Egypt in the fifth and last day of the
preliminary round here at Tongaat hall in Durban,
South Africa on Thursday.
In a tough match determining the first and second
positions of pool A Algeria defeated Cameroon in one
of the competition’s most exciting matches, while
the organizers South Africa left the competition
with a victory over Rwanda.
T the end of pool stage Algeria led pool A followed
by Cameroon and both qualified to the semifinal,
then South Africa third, Nigeria fourth and Rwanda
fifth. Egypt finished at the top of pool B followed
by Tunisia and both qualified followed by Morocco
third, Gabon fourth and Mozambique fifth.
It is well known that the champions of this
competition will secure the African Vacancy in the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The matches were attended by CAVB President Dr. Amr
Elwani, CAVB first Vice president and South Africa
Volleyball Federation President Mr. Tubby Reddy,
CAVB Vice president Mr. Baba Sy and Control
Committee members Mr. Camilo Antao, CAVB Referee
committee president Mr. Hassan Ahmed and CAVB
Technical director Mrs. Howyda Mondy.
Cameroon vs.
Algeria
Algeria achieved a big surprise when they defeated
Cameroon 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 12-25, 25-19) in 91
minutes in the big match for the top of pool A.
Algeria ended the pool stage at the first position
with a win- loss ratio of 4-0 to and 8 points
leaving Cameroon in the second position with a
record of 3-1 and 7 points but both secured the
semifinal tickets of the pool. Algeria was dominant
in the match through their strong spike services
which were not tolerated by the Cameroon team which
was out of form.
Algeria started the match as the better side and
they surprised Cameroon team with their potent
service of Toufik Mahdjoubi, Ali Kerboua and Mohamed
Chikhi to disturb their reception and defense.
Cameroon bad reception was the main cause to lose
the first set 25-21.
In the second set Algeria concentrated on the
attacks specially through the left attackers Kerboua
and Chikhi so they kept their dominance all through
until they won the set 25-21.
Cameroon head coach Mayam Blaise made substitutions
as he changed the setter Marcel Ndaki by the other
setter George Kapi and also put the wing spiker
Valery Tatsi in the squad instead of Wounembaina.
They succeeded to rearrange their reception and
backline defense to lead in most of the set and
finished the set 25-21.
In the fourth set the battle was very warm as
Algeria used as usual their big gun Kerboua who used
well the skillful setting of the setter Debbih
Messaoud to lead 7-5. Cameroon rebounded through the
spikes of Valery Tatsi and Wounembaina but Algeria
led narrowly 8-7. Cameroon coach substituted the
setter George Kari by Marcel Ndaki, but Algeria kept
their dominance until they reached to 16-13 at the
STT. Algeria used as usual the big guns Kerboua and
Chikhi to increase the attacking pressure and widen
the point deficit gradually. The service was also a
big force for the Algerians who used the improper
reception of Cameroon team and continued leading
till they won the set 25-19 to win the match 3-1.
Morocco vs.
Egypt
Egypt continued their clear sheet and achieved their
fourth victory in a row over Morocco 3-0 (25-21,
25-17, 25-21) in 78 minutes. Egypt improved their
win- loss ratio to 4-0 to lead Pool B with 8 points.
Morocco dropped to 2-2 to finish the preliminary
round in the third position with 6 points.
Egypt head coach returned back to the standing line
up after he played with the substitutes in the two
matches against Gabon and Mozambique, while Morocco
started with the usual squad. Egypt started using
the strong spike service of Ahmed Salah and Saleh
Fathy, and then Morocco improved their defense and
block of Idriss Cherqi to stop the Egyptian spikes
of El Safi and Fathy. Morocco led 8-6 at the FTT and
kept their consistency until the draw 14-14 using
the frequent mistakes of Egyptian players but Egypt
returned back to lead 16-14 at the STT. Egypt with
the better backline defense won the set 25-21.
In the second set Egypt used the strong spike
service of Salah and Fathy again to lead at the FTT
8-6. Morocco started to use the spikes of Zakaria
Bairi to penetrate the Egyptian block and also the
block of Idriss but Egypt again had the upper hand
to lead 16-11. The Egyptian coach started to give
the chance to some bench players but he still had
the upper hand to win the set 25-17.
Morocco showed different image in the third set
through some substitutions made by their coach who
pushed Hichem Esseddyq in position 3 and the setter
Faiazid to improve their combinations that succeeded
to put Morocco ahead in the STT 16-14. Egypt
regained their rhythm and started to improve the
block against Bairi and Abicha to draw 20-20. Egypt
used again the big guns Salah to win the set 25-21.
Tunisia vs.
Gabon
Tunisia cut the last ticket to the semifinal
following their win over Gabon 3-0 (25-15, 25-15,
25-15) in 55 minutes. Tunisia ends the preliminary
round in the second position of pool B to secure the
second ticket of the pool in the semifinal after
they raised their record to 3-1 with 7 points after
Egypt. Gabon dropped to 1-3 to finish the pool
matches in the fourth position. Tunisia played the
first two sets with the standing line up but the
head coach Kamel Rakaya made many substitutions in
the third set when he secured the victory.
Tunisia showed dominance in block through Chaker
Ghezal and Bilel Ben Hussine and didn’t allow Gabon
spikers to work so Tunisia led all through the first
set to win 25-15.
The second set showed the same although Gabon tried
to improve the reception to build up the attacks and
to use their attackers Cedric Bekale and Bagafou
Moundzerou but they were stopped by the Tunisian
block.
In the third set Tunisia made substitutions in the
line up but they kept the momentum and succeeded to
dominate the net with good job from the opposite
Hichem Kaabi who led his team to win the set 25-15
and the match in straight sets.
South Africa
vs. Rwanda
The host team South Africa improved their image in
front of their spectators who attended their final
match and clinched their competition second victory
over Rwanda 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 30-32, 31-29) after
good show extending for 107 minutes. The winners
improved their record to 2-2 to leave the
competition in the third position of pool A with 6
points. Rwanda dropped to 0-4 and came at the bottom
of the pool with 4 points.
South Africa started the match more disciplined in
backline defense and used the spikes of Freedom
Chiya and Thokozani Ntuli to penetrate the Rwandan
block and thus South Africa was ahead 8-4 at the
FTT. Rwanda improved the defense and also the block
of Guilermme Irakarama to decrease the point deficit
to 16-15 by the STT. Rwanda kept the draw until
17-17 when Chiya and the setter Gershon Rorich led
the team to win the set 25-21.
Rwanda started the second set more active as the
strong spikers Eric Nsabimana and Ndayi Kenruruki
scored successive points and the block defended
their court to reach 8-4 at the FTT. South Africa
again arranged their block and succeeded to overcome
the Rwandan spikes and ended the set 25-22.
The Rwandan team played their best in the third set
as they deployed the solid block against the south
African attacks all through the Marathon set util
the most exciring part of the match when Rwanda led
24-21 but they missed two set points before the two
teams continued the rally of points till Rwanda won
32-30.
The highly motivated Rwandan team started the fourth
set leading 8-5 after a group of spikes from
Nsabimana. The right attacker of the host team did
again his job in spiking from position 2 to allow
his team to lead 14-12 and 16-13 the STT. Again
Naidoo Leslie and Chiya did good job and saved more
than set point for Rwanda to win the set long 31-29 |
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