From Ernest Nzor, Abuja
AL AHLY of Egypt became the first club to reach the semifinals of the ongoing African Women’s Volleyball Inter-Cub Championship, which is holding in Abuja.
The nine-time winners (1999, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) defeated Kenya’s Prisons by three sets to one (25-12, 25-20, 22-25, 27-25) to make the last four.
The match lived up to billings as the Egyptians proved their superiority winning the first two sets 25-12, 25-20 before the Kenyans rallied in the third round to edge the former champions 25-22.
The last quarter put spectators and the coaching crew of both sides on the edge of their seats as the players engaged in battle of skills, power and tactics which at the end went the Egyptians way as they 27-25. Al Ahly will face the winners of the game between Litto of Cameroon and Carthage of Tunisia.
Meanwhile, some officials and players of the participating teams at the championship have commended the Comptroller General Customs (CGC) for the facilities provided for the competition describing it as top-notch.
Head coach, Mayo Kani Evolution (MKE) of Cameroon, Ngon Ntame, whose team lost to Al Ahly Sporting club (AHL) of Egypt 3-0 (25-17,25-19,25-15) commended the organisers for hosting the competition, which, she described, as a thing of pride for black Africa. She called on her country and other black African countries to emulate what Nigeria has done, saying the competitions are hosted most times by the North Africans.
“The organisation of the competition is very good. It is the first time in a very long time that another part of Africa is organising a competition like this because most of the time, this competition holds in North Africa. I love what I saw here in terms of organisation and facilities. Nigeria has done well.
“We are out of competition but we’ll continue to compete at the lower ranking, which is between the 9th and the 16 positions and our main objective now is to be 9th. We are encouraged by what the Customs through the comptroller general has been in place for the competition and I want other countries like Cameroon and the entire Black Africa to try to emulate what Nigeria has achieved in organising this tournament. The tournament is top-notch.”
Al Ahly’s captain, Mayar Khalifa, echoed Ntame’s sentiments while expressing confidence in her team’s ability to navigate their way to the final and take the cup back to Egypt.
Khalifa said: “The organisation of this competition is the best. We can see everything about the organisation and everything is well organised. Everything about the event is very good. The matches, officiating, the training, the buses everything is really good, but we are looking forward to taking the cup back home to Egypt.”
