It comes with the crown
THE 14TH African volleyball championship ended in Cairo yesterday with the champion winning not only the African crown but also qualifying for the World Cup in Japan in November, writes Inas Mazhar
At the same time, the winner of the 22nd African basketball championship, which starts in Alexandria today, will go to the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.
As the newspaper went to press, Algeria was to meet Tunisia in the volleyball semi-final while hosts Egypt was taking on defending champions Cameroon.
The event, which began on Friday and was held at the Police Federation Sports Hall, included eight countries divided into two groups. Egypt topped Group A which comprised Tunisia, Rwanda and the Republic of Democratic Congo. Algeria finished ahead of Cameroon, South Africa and Morocco in Group B.
Egypt romped in the qualifying round, blanking Rwanda 3-0, Tunisia 3-1 and the RDC 3-0. Tunisia came in second with two victories over Rwanda and the RDC before losing to Egypt.
Algeria topped its group with three victories while Cameroon notched second place to remain in contention to defend the title it won in Nigeria in 2001. That year, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt, all considered powerhouses in the sport in Africa, did not enter.
The luck of the draw this year helped Egypt avoid playing arch-rivals north Africans Tunisia and Algeria in the semi-final. The Tunisians have won the title seven times while the Algerians took it once. Egypt has claimed it twice, the last time being in 1983. Twenty years later, Egypt hopes for a repeat.
"We shouldn't underestimate the Cameroonians," said Abdel- Hamid El-Wesimi, Egypt's head coach, on the eve of the semi-final. "They have improved a lot and are competing hard. They want to prove themselves, that they are among the top teams. They did well in the preliminaries. However, we'll play in front of our fans and we hope to win," El-Wesimi added.
Meanwhile, Alexandria has been busy preparing for the 22nd African basketball championship which will take the winner to the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. The tournament begins today when hosts Egypt takes on Mozambique.
Twelve teams have already arrived in Alexandria and have started training for the 10-day competition. Twelve teams are divided into two groups. Egypt, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, Nigeria and Algeria are in Group A, to play in Alexandria Stadium. Madagascar, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Angola and Senegal represent Group B at the Mubarak indoor hall.
For six days the teams will clash in a round-robin preliminary round after which the semi-finals and final will be played.
Mahmoud El-Habashi, president of the Egyptian Basketball Federation, said he expected competition to be fierce since Angola, Nigeria and Senegal include players who are in the NBA. "Angola has eight American-based players whereas Nigeria and Senegal have six professionals. It's going to be difficult for everybody," El-Habashi said.
He added that Angola and Senegal are the favourites to top their group while Egypt and Nigeria or Algeria should finish one-two in theirs. "If all goes well, Egypt should make it to the semi-finals where we might face Senegal if the calculations prove correct."
Alex basketball fans, known for their fanatic support, should provide an immense boost to the team but the absence of Shaaban Abdel-Wahab and Tarek El-Ghanam because of injury has raised question marks. Head coach Adel Sabri claimed there was no need to worry since there were other replacements of equal calibre.
The championship's director Mohamed Mesilhi said Alexandria had left no stone unturned when it came to organising the event. And he had special praise for the supporters. "The fans will make it a success like they did before. Alexandria has organised the championship three times and helped the team win them all."
This year will be the fourth edition for Alexandria to play host and the sixth for Egypt overall. Cairo hosted and won the event twice, in 1962 and 1964. In all, the Egyptians enter the competition with five titles and will be looking for No.6.
