Egypt break Rwanda in African Games qualifier
Egypt's Libero Ahmed Mohamed controls a serve from Rwanda's Vincent Basongo during their African Games qualifying match on June 3, 2019 at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- “Rashad is the leader of the group and his experience was a big boost. Hisham is also coming up very well and he will be a key player for Egypt in future,” said Egypt coach Gido Nldvermeulen.
- Egypt play Uganda on Tuesday as Rwanda face hosts Kenya on Match Day Two.
Perhaps Paul Bitok will rue the introduction of Christophe Mukunzi in the fourth set just when a glimmer of hope had arrived for Rwanda in their opening Zone V men's qualifier.
In the end it was a tale of what-ifs for the East Africans as Egypt began their quest for a slot in the 2019 African Games with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16) victory at Kasarani Indoor Gymnasium on Monday.
Bitok had shown his tactical acumen after trailing by two sets tweaking his line up to introduce Fred Musoni and Yves Mutabazi to his starting line-up.
Mutabazi, who had been benched for the first two sets, showed his class with powerful front row and back row attacks that saw him hand his side the set-point at 24-20 and Patrick Akumuntu secured the set at 25-23.
But that is the closest Rwanda came to match the Egyptians, who broke no sweat as they claimed the fourth with bemusing ease 24-16. Trailing 9-4, the game looked within reach and Bitok introduced Mukunzi to beef up his reception, but it did not go to plan as the Egyptians opened a 14-5 lead.
“It’s not the first time we are having a problem with reception when playing Arab sides. My players gave them a lot of respect. This Egyptian side is beatable. We have picked a lot of positives and my target remains to qualify. We will continue pushing hoping that Egypt also drop points along the way,” offered Bitok, in his post-match remarks.
There was no stopping them as they finished the set 25-16 once again the pair of skipper Rashad Mohammed and Hisham Yousri proving influential just like in the first two sets.
“I am happy with how my players responded because they are fasting. We lost concentration in the third set but we reacted very well to show we were the better team.
“Rashad is the leader of the group and his experience was a big boost. Hisham is also coming up very well and he will be a key player for Egypt in future,” said Egypt coach Gido Nldvermeulen.
Egypt play Uganda on Tuesday as Rwanda face hosts Kenya on Match Day Two.
