The Rwandan men’s beach volleyball team of Olivier Ntagengwa and Flavien Ndamukunda has been crowned this year’s Zone V champions after beating Burundi in the final on Saturday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Ndamukunda and Ntagengwa beat Burundian opponents 2-0 (21-11 and 21-18). The two-day tournament started on Friday.
Rwanda has qualified for this year’s All African Games slated in Congo Brazzaville in September 4-19 along with Burundi, Kenya and Egypt.
En-route to the final, the Rwandan pair secured two wins in three games in group stages. Rwanda beat Uganda 2- 0 (21-18 and 21-16) and Eritrea 2-0 (21-5, 21-6) before losing to Burundi 2-1 (26 24, 18-21 and 13-15).
In semi-finals Ntagengwa and Ndamukunda beat the Kenyan team 2-1, (21-17, 21-13, and 15-12) while Burundi won over Egypt 2-1.
Meanwhile, National volleyball team head coach Paul Bitok has named a final 14-player squad ahead of friendly matches against Cameron from April 21-26 in Douala. The team will travel to Cameroon on Monday evening and return six days later. Rwanda men’s senior volleyball team will play warm-up matches against Cameroon in reparation for the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) Zone V tournament slated for May 1-6 in Kigali.
Rwanda will be looking for qualification in Zone V, Group 1 event, against Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda with the winner will qualify for the 2015 All Africa Games to be held in Congo Brazzaville from September 4-19.
Volleyball squad:
Setters: Eugene Tuyishime, Silvestre Ndayisabye and Ivan Mahoro Nsabimana
Libero: Emile ‘Dada’ Karera and Bosco Mutabazi.
Left attackers: Flavien Ndamukunda, Olivier Ntagengwa and Yves Mutabazi.
Right attackers: Yakan Guma Laurence, Nelson Murangwa and Adolphe Mutoni.
Center players: Pierre Marshal Kwizera, Fred Musoni and Vincent ‘Gasongo’ Dusabimana.
By Peter Kamasa, Tanzania Daily News