Tough task awaits Rwanda at African Nations Championships

Today Tunisia vs Rwanda (4pm) Tomorrow Cameroon vs Rwanda (4pm) Rwanda will be looking to pick wins against Tunisia on Saturday and Cameroon on Sunday respectively to qualify for the quarterfinals of the ongoing Mens African Nations Championship Stadium Complex in Cairo, Egypt. The Rwandan side lost their opening match 3-0 against Morocco on Wednesday before beating Mauritius 3-0 (25-13, 26-24, 26-24) on Thursday. “We are aware of the challenge ahead and we know the North African countries are strong. However, we have been preparing really well and are going to double our efforts in these two games to make sure we qualify for the quarter finals,” captain Christophe Mukunzi explained. The former Kigali Volleyball Club player added that, “They are definitely going to be tough matches but we are ready for the challenge ahead of us and we hope that playing at home will give us an advantage.” “We have a good team and we believe we can qualify for the quarters. When we play Tunisia, we want to get off to a strong start,” the Turkish-based player said before adding that, “We know how good Tunisia is but we have a game plan for them.” Against Mauritius, experienced outside hitter Lawrence Guma Yakan was Rwandas best scorer with 14 points equal to captain Mukunzi while Alfred Mandez contributed 14 points followed by Kevin Larose 13 points for Mauritius. The highly motivated Rwandan players managed to show their consistency throughout the match supported by a lot of spectators at the stadium. In the other matches, Cameroon fought for 130 minutes to pull off a thrilling victory over giants Tunisia in grueling five setter 3-2 (25-23, 12-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12)while in Pool A, Algeria beat Botswana 3-0 (25-16, 25-22 and 25-13). Cameroon leads the strong Pool B with a win- loss ratio of 2-0 (five points) followed by Morocco who rest today while Rwanda has three points and Tunisia one point. Mauritius have no point after losing two games. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

Sports

Tough task awaits Rwanda at African Nations Championships