Semi finals (men)Kenya 0-2 Rwanda 

Women Rwanda 2- Zimbabwe

Rwanda’s U23 men and women beach volleyball teams booked their place in the 2013 FIVB U23 World Championships which will be held in Myslowice, Poland this June.

The men’s team is comprised of National University of Rwanda right attacker Olivier Ntagengwa and Lycee de Nyanza’s Thierry Mugabo, while the women’s is made up of the duo of Charlotte Nzayisenga and Denyse Mutatsimpundu.

In men’s category, Rwanda’s team beat Chad in the first match 2-0 (21-16 and 21-15) and Uganda 2-0 (21-8 and 21-9), but also lost against Kenya 2-0 and Egypt 2-0.

Rwanda beat Kenya in semi finals 2-0 (21-19 and 21-13) to book ticket of final against Egypt, while the women beat Zimbabwe 2-0 (21-11 and 21-5) to also secure a place in Sunday’s final.

Earlier, Rwanda’s Nzayisenga and Mutatsimpundu beat rivals Uganda’s pair of Shella/Femia 2-0 (21-8, 21-9) in first match.

The two finalists in each category men’s competition and the top three teams in the women’s competition will secure tickets to the world championships. 

This is the second time Rwanda women beach volleyball secured place in world cup following last year’s achievement when Nzayisenga and Mutatsimpundu booked the ticket in Togo, but Canada denied the team visas to compete in the world meet.

This year has been a memorable one for Rwanda’s volleyball after the U19 (girls) and U21 (boys) qualified for the world championships which will be held in Mexico and Turkey respectively later in the year.