Kenya and Rwanda will meet in both the men’s and women’s final of the CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Pool D of the zonal phase as they came through their semifinals on the second day of competition at Nyali Beach in Mombasa, Kenya on Thursday.
Hosts Kenya repelled an early challenge to down Egypt 3-1 after a thrilling encounter of four matches in the men’s competition while Rwanda saw off the struggling Burundi team 3-2 after they played a golden set. In the women’s edition the hosts clinched a 4-0 win over Ethiopia and joined Rwanda in the final who trounced Uganda 4-0 earlier in the day.
The bronze medal match for the men will feature Egypt challenging Burundi and for the women Ethiopia meets Uganda.
Kenya used their physical fitness and technical dominance to sweep past Egypt in a clash followed by a large number of spectators including some tourists from the same hotel of the competition. The Kenyan pair of Patrick Owino/Sila Makiso started the day by defeating the Egypt pair of Eslam Okasha/Ahmed Metwaly 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) using tactical spikes at the back of the field. The second Kenya pair of Ibraahim Odindo/Evans Cherenges claimed a convincing win over Mohamed El Shemerly/Ahmed Atta 2-0 (21-6. 21-19). The Kenyans then secured the final ticket after they won the third match 2-0 (21-13, 21-6) before the Egyptian team of Shemerly and Atta clinched their only victory in narrow 2-0 (26-24, 25-23) win.
Rwanda outlasted Burundi in gruelling match settled by a golden set. Although the Rwandan team won the first match through the pair of Kwizera Marchal/Mutesi Fidele 2-1 (21-16, 17-21, 15-13) and the second match thanks to Uma Luc/Ndamukuda Flavien 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) and indicated they were on the road to a straight victory Burundi emerged through Ugabo Braind/Dukandaine Yvan to win the third match 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) and Hwari Tresor/Minani Jeremi continued their brave performance to win 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) to bring the scores level. The mixed Rwandan pair of Kwizera Marchal/Ndamukuda Flavien however helped their side clinch the win as they scored a 15-9 victory in the decisive golden set.
In the 5 to 8 bracket Uganda defeated Ethiopia 4-0 easily while in the other match Tanzania needed another golden set to see off Sudan 3-2. Uganda plays Tanzania for the 5 and 6 positions while Ethiopia battle Sudan for 7 and 8.
In the women’s category Kenya’s veteran stars Margaret Indakala/Dorcas Ndasaba led their country to an easy 4-0 win over the less experienced Ethiopia. The two legendary indoor stars used their experience to win two matches easily and the pair of Edinah Rotich/Eunice Maiyo did the same in their two matches.
In the other semifinal Rwanda secured a 4-0 victory over Uganda despite a big fightback from the eventual losers, especially in the third and fourth matches.
(Source: FIVB)