Rwanda’s hopes of going past the group stages of the Malta Guinness –sponsored African Cup of Nations in Nairobi were shunned down after a 3-0 defeat against South Africa on day two.

After a similar score-line defeat against Senegal on day one, Rwanda’s life line rested on the South Africans but to their dismay, the latter had a lot in stock.

After dropping the first two sets, Rwanda fought hard in the third set through her wing spiker Emeline Uwineza but South Africa regained their rhythm quickly to win the set with a wider point deficit 25-14.

Rwanda’s head coach, Antoine Sebalinda blamed the defeat on his team’s poor reception and backline defence.

"We will work on the defence and reception in future because I think those are our weak areas,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Group B’s giants and big contenders for the crown Egypt registered their first victory after a 3-1 set win over Senegal.

In Group A, reigning champions and crown favourites Kenya cruised to 25-20, 25-12, 25-7 set victory over Uganda to register their second win at the competition.

On the other hand, Cameroon shook off their day one disappointments with a 3-1 win over a competent Botswana side.
After losing the first set (21-25), the West Africa nation rebounded back to win the contest (25-6, 25-17, 25-22).

Ends