Smell of victory
The Egyptian volleyball women's team snatched the title of the 14th African Nations Cup. Abeer Anwar reports
In a procession that included flowers and roses, the Egyptian women's volleyball team was received at Cairo International Airport after returning victorious from Kenya. After an absence of eight years, the nation's womens' volleyball team engraved their name in the record books and restored their African supremacy -- beating Kenya 3-1 in the final match to take the title and qualify to the World Cup next November in Japan. The week-long competition hosted by Nairobi, Kenya, gathered eight African teams: Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Seychelles, Senegal and Kenya, the host.
The final match was a fight, as the Kenyans wanted to avenge themselves after losing their preliminaries to the Egyptian side. The Egyptians, on the other hand, were determined to win, especially after beating their strong contenders -- such as the Algerian team in the semi-final.
The Kenyan press edged their team on, asking them on the sports pages to take their revenge and beat their opponents and please their fans. The stadium witnessed the gathering of 8,000 fans, and the Kenyan sports minister -- who was spotted exiting the grounds when his team started to fall. Egypt smashed the Kenyans 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 29-27 and 25-19).
Team victory alone was not enough for charging Egypt; Tahani Tousoon was chosen as Africa's best player, and teammate Sara Badr as best libero.
"The players did their best and it was our golden chance to restore our fame," Hisham Badrawi, team technical manager, said. "I am very satisfied with the team's performance and we will do our best to be able to snatch a rank in the coming World Cup." Amr Makhlouf, head of the Egyptian delegation, said: "This victory is very special for the Egyptians as it makes up for the men's failure to qualify to the World Cup. I thank all the players and coaches for the great effort they exerted."
The event also marked the first time for the Egyptian women's team to surpass the Algerian and Tunisian teams without losing a single match.
Other tournament play saw Cameroon beat Algeria 3-1 to rank third, Tunisia beat the Seychelles 3-0 to claim the fifth spot, while Congo ranked seventh after overcoming Senegal 3-1.
John Babes, deputy of the African Volleyball Federation, said the competition marked the beginning of the game's flourishing in the women's events.
