TANZANIA beach volleyball men team stepped closer towards their ambition to play at next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
The team clinched Group 7 Africa Zone V Beach Volleyball Championships title, during the event held at Lido Beach in Entebbe, Uganda.
The men’s qualifiers that also double as Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifiers brought together teams from Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and hosts Uganda.
Tanzania Amateur Volleyball Association (TAVA) Secretary Alfred Selengia told the ‘Sunday News’ yesterday that spirited Tanzania team work hard to upset Kenya and hosts Uganda before they were crowned the champions.
Ugandan first pair of Emma Elanyu/Amon Ainebyona dismissed Tanzanian pair of Ally Shukuru/Alhaji Said in straight sets 2-0 (21-16, 21-09).
However, the second Uganda pair could not hold Tanzania for long, Mark Kouras/Emma Kato lost 2-0 (18-21, 15-21) to the Tanzanian pair of Neeke David, who is playing professional volleyball with Mombasa Prisons of Kenya and Edward Ford to set up a Golden set.
According to Selengia, Tanzania capitalized on Uganda’s errors in the offense to win the Golden set 16-14.
Kenya also opened their account on a positive note with Cornelius Kiplagat/Brian Melly beating Sudanese pair of Muzamil Ateya/Mohammed Hamad 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 18-16).
The Pair of Ibrahim Oduor/ James Mwaniki also defeated the Sudanese pair of Nagi Osman/Bar Eldin Momen 2-0 (21-15, 22-20).
Tanzania finished at the top, followed by Kenya to qualify for the Zone V second-round qualifier as Sudan and Uganda came third and fourth position respectively.
Selengia said that the team will take a few day’s breaks after returning home before resuming training ready for second-round battle.
“Our focus will remain to qualify for the Africa tournament so that we can fight for the Olympic ticket. “However, we cannot do everything on our own, we will need support from companies, institutions, sponsors and sports well-wishers,” he said.
Confederation of Africa Volleyball (CAVB) has also given Tanzania honor to host women’s category Group 6 battle that is scheduled to be held at Mbalamwezi Hotel of Dar es Salaam from January 9-13th, 2020.
Teams that will compete at Mbalamwezi beach are Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and hosts Tanzania.
Selengia added that national women team pair of Jonia Jovin and Evelyn Albert and second-team Hellen Richard and Beatrice Soka have stepped up preparations, ready for the January battle.
