Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique left its mark on the African Volleyball Championship held in Agadir, Morocco, by winning three medals: one silver and two bronze. Our national teams finished second and third in the men’s competitions and third in the women’s.
This turns out to be a very positive performance by the Mozambican doubles, if one takes into account that, in the previous (2019) competition, the Mozambican men’s team finished third and the women fifth.
It is true that the gold medal was the dream of the Mozambican players, especially Ainadino Martinho and Jorge Monjane, who played in the final against the Moroccan duo Abicha and Elgraoui,
Despite giving it all they had, Ainadino Martinho and Jorge Monjane lost to Abicha/Elgraoui from Morocco by 2 sets to 0 (21-19, 21-15), bringing home the silver.
Mozambique’s Ana Paula Sinaportar and Vanessa Muianga beat Nigeria’s Rofiat Mustapha and Esther Mbah 2-0 (9-21, 13-21), finishing third on Monday.
José Mondlane and Osvaldo Mungoi won their match against the Botswana duo, Sekao Jack and George Chiswanisoby 2-0, with scores of 21-13 and 21-18.
Players from about forty countries participated in this African Nations Beach Volleyball Championship. The excitement around the competition and the level of players show that the sport is increasingly popular in Africa.
“We had a hard time with a good Mozambican team, and the one from Mauritius, too. It’s cool to see so many teams for each country,” said Moroccan player Imane Yakki.
“Beach volleyball is developing more and more. Look at Mozambique, for example, who have a Brazilian coach,” Algerian player Hicham Benbouali noted.
Alexandre Pontel is the Brazilian coach recruited by Mozambique to lead the men’s and women’s national teams of beach volleyball. According to him, standards in Africa are rising. “I think we have good, strong players,” Pontel says.
Beach volleyball is played by teams of two, the goal being to ground the ball in your opponents’ playing area and prevent it from touching the ground in your own.
The game is played all over Africa, even in hinterland countries like Mali, Burkina Faso and Sudan, but national federations regularly complain of a lack of support from governments.
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