The national men’s volleyball team is ready for the 2017 CAVB/Zone V Championships, according to head coach Paul Bitok.  The event starts on July 21 and ends on September 26 at Amahoro Indoor Stadium in Kigali.

The regional tournament, which also serves as the preliminary qualification round for the 2018 FIVB World Championships will attract four countries including; Kenya, Uganda, hosts Rwanda and debutants South Sudan.

The team, led by head coach Bitok, is in residential camp at Golden Tulip Hotel in Nyamata and training twice a day at Amahoro Indoor Stadium.

Speaking to Times Sport on Sunday, Bitok said: "We are heading for a difficult challenge but are focused on reaching as far as possible, though the main target is to win the title.”

"I have a solid and confident team which believes in winning. We have had enough time to prepare and I hope we can go there and do what we are really capable of. We’ve worked on our defence which I felt was our weak point,” the former Kenya international explained.

Rwanda, who finished as runner-up in 2015 behind Egypt, and also won the event in 2011 and 2013, will be hoping to go a step further, thanks to the fact that the North African side will not be in tournament.

Bitok remains confident that Rwanda has talented and experienced players ready to face anyone and win the title.

Meanwhile, the women’s team will start residential training camp on Monday in Huye at Gisangara Gymnasium ahead of this year’s CAVB Zone V Championships, which will be staged at Kasarani Gymnasium in Nairobi, Kenya from July 27 to August 4.

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