Today

Group B

Cameroon vs Ghana 10amCape Verde vs Seychelles 12pmAlgeria vs Rwanda 2pm

Rwanda national volleyball team begins its bid for an All Africa Games medal when they face Algeria at 2pm (3pm CAT) in the first Group B match in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo.

The 11th All Africa Games will be officially opened tomorrow but competitions started on Wednesday and will run through to September 19.

Rwanda is making a fifth consecutive appearance following their debut in 1999 in Johannesburg, South Africa but still looking for a first medal. Four years ago, the team finished fourth behind Cameroon (gold), Algeria (silver) and Kenya (bronze).

Team Rwanda, which departed on August 29, has been training in Brazzaville to acclimatize with the weather, and head coach Paul Bitok is confident his men are up for the challenge.

"The mood in the team is really great; all players are fit, physically and mentally ready for the competition.

Nonetheless, we are facing a tough Algeria but we have to be confident, believe we can do it,” Bitok told Times Sport from Brazzaville on Wednesday.

However, the Kenyan trainers noted that missing key players; Olivier Ntagengwa and Flavien Ndamukunda was a huge blow for the national team. The duo will represent Rwanda in the beach volleyball competition.

Rwanda will be represented by a total 74 athletes competing in nine different disciplines namely; volleyball, beach volleyball, athletics, cycling, karate, taekwondo, tennis, fencing and power lifting.

Volleyball and fencing teams left on August 29, Karate and beach volleyball set-off yesterday, cycling, tennis and NPC delegation (athletics and power lifting) will leave on September 7 while the athletics team will depart on September 9.

The All Africa Games have attracted over 15,000 athletes from 54 African countries vying for medals in 22 sporting disciplines.

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