Rwanda coach Mossad Rashad admits he was disappointed to see his men’s team fail to reach the knockout stages of the World Para Volley Sitting Volleyball World Cup which is underway in Cairo, Egypt.

Rwanda failed to advance to the knockout stages after losing both their Group A games against Iraq (3-2) in the opening game before hosts Egypt beat them in three straight sets (25-6, 25-16, 25-10) on Tuesday, November 14.

Rashad’s men will now play the 9-13 classification games against France on Wednesday, Algeria and England on Thursday before playing India on Friday as they look to finish in a better place below the top 8.

The Egyptian coach regrets that his side had a difficult campaign but he remains optimistic that they can still perform well during the classification fixtures to improve their rankings.

ALSO READ: Sitting V-ball WC: Rwanda women face Brazil in quarterfinals

"We have been disappointing in the tournament. As a coach, you feel a lot of pain. I can't fault the guys' efforts, we're just a long way short of our best. As a coach, you want to lead from the front and play well but we failed especially against Iraq," Rashad said.

Commenting the classification, he said, "it's just a great opportunity for us to get back on track when we play the classification matches. That's kind of the positive I left with the guys. We need to finish in the good position, we still have big matches coming up."

ALSO READ: Rwanda Handed Tough Draw in World Para Volley

The World Cup serves as a Paris 2024 Paralympic qualifier, where one berth in each of men and women’s categories is up for grabs for the winner or the highest-placed non-qualified team of the tournament.