
Cairo, Egypt, July 25, 2015 – Morocco joined Egypt and Algeria in the semifinals of the 2015 Men's African Nations Championship following their third victory in a row in Pool B on Saturday, Day 4 of the competition at Cairo Stadium Complex.
The second semifinal ticket from Pool B will be decided between Tunisia and Cameroon in the last matches of the Preliminary Round on Sunday when Morocco meet Tunisia and Cameroon face Rwanda. Cameroon need to beat Rwanda and wait for Morocco to defeat Tunisia to confirm a semifinal ticket. On the other hand, Morocco need two sets to lead the pool, while Tunisia will qualify if they beat Morocco by any result.
Egypt finished on top of Pool A with a 3-0 win-loss ratio (8 points) followed by Algeria at 2-1 (7 points). Kenya upset Botswana 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) to finish third on 1-2 ahead of the losers who ended in fourth.
Morocco lead Pool B with nine points from a 3-0 record, followed by Tunisia (2-1) on seven points after they beat Rwanda 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-12). Cameroon had a rest day and are third with five points from a 2-1 record ahead of Rwanda (1-2) who are fourth with three points. Mauritius finished at the bottom of the pool with an 0-4 record.
The African Championship acts as a qualifier for the 2015 FIVB Men's World Cup in Japan in September. The top two teams will secure their tickets to the prestigious event.
Pool A
Egypt v Algeria 3-2 (24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 15-10)
Egypt rebounded from a set behind to beat Algeria, but both teams had already booked a semifinal berth.
Algeria fought aggressively in the first set to stay near throughout the set before Dikkiche and Mahdjoubi led with spikes to win the first set 26-24. Egypt used the sharp services of Salah, Abdalla and Mohamed El Hosseiny to come back in the second set and continued the same rhythm in the third set to lead 2-1.
Algeria played their best in the competition so far led by Mohamed Chikhi and Dikkiche to win the fourth set but Egypt regained their rhythm in the tiebreaker and succeeded with their solid block against Algeria’s attacks to win 15-10 and claim a tough victory 3-2.
Kenya v Botswana 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23)
Kenya played their best volleyball in the competition so far to beat Botswana 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) in Pool A. This was the first win for the central African country and improved their win-loss ratio to 1-2 to finish the pool matches in third position, while Botswana finished fourth. The two teams will play for the 5 to 8 positions.
Opposite Philip Maiyo led Kenyan scorers with 13 points followed by Michael Njoroge’s 12. Kabo Moetse led Botswana with 13 points, followed by Pastor Rebabonye’s 11 points.
Pool B
Tunisia v Rwanda 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-12)
Tunisia cruised past Rwanda in 65 minutes in Pool B. The Tunisian coach played with most of the squad members to distribute the efforts around all the players.
With the win Tunisia improved to 2-1 for seven points, while Rwanda dropped to 1-2. Tunisia opposite Hichem Kaabi scored 11 points as the best scorer of his side, followed by Ismail Moalla’s 10 points. From the Rwandan side Guma Yakan contributed six points as best scorer from the losers.
Morocco v Mauritius 3-0 (28-26, 25-11, 25-17)
Morocco overcame a sluggish start to take over the motivated Mauritius team. Morocco's big gun Mohamed Hachdadi scored 23 points while Alfred Mandez was the best scorer for the losing side with nine points.
After a shaky start from the Moroccan team, Mauritius took the lead several times and had set point at 25-24 before the North Africans rebounded to win the longest set 28-26. Afterwards, it was easy for the Moroccans to go through for a straight-sets win, with the Mauritians losing control.
Day 5 Programme, July 26, 2015
Pool B 18:00 Cameroon v Rwanda
Pool B 20:00 Tunisia v Morocco
2015 Men's African Nations Championship
Top Performances
Top Scoring Performances
30 - Jean Ndaki of Cameroon v Tunisia (July 23)
27 - Mohamed Hachdadi of Morocco v Cameroon (July 24)
23 - Mohamed Hachdadi of Morocco v Mauritius (July 25)
22 - Jean Ndaki of Cameroon v Morocco (July 24)
20 – Mohammed Hachdadi of Morocco v Rwanda (July 22)
19 - Toufik Mahdjoubi of Algeria v Botswana (July 23)
19 - Ahmed Salah of Egypt v Algeria (July 25)
18 - Elyes Karamosli of Tunisia v Cameroon (July 23)
17 - Michael Chemos of Kenya v Algeria (July 24)
16 - Ayoub Dikkiche of Algeria v Egypt (July 25)
16 - Mohamed Chikhi of Algeria v Kenya (July 24)
16 - Toufik Mahdjoubi of Algeria v Kenya (July 24)
16 - Marouane Garci of Tunisia v Cameroon (July 23)
14 - Guma Yakan of Rwanda v Mauritius (July 23)
14 - Christophe Mukunzi of Rwanda v Mauritius (July 23)
14 - Alfred Mandez of Mauritius v Rwanda (July 23)
Top Blocking Performances
6 - Mohamed Hachdadi of Morocco v Mauritius (July 25)
5 - Nongni Mefani of Cameroon v Morocco (July 24)
4 - Sofiane Bouyoucef of Algeria v Egypt (July 25)
4 - Mohamed Hachdadi of Morocco v Cameroon (July 24)
4 - Kamal Ouali of Morocco v Cameroon (July 24)
4 - Skander Ben Tara of Tunisia v Mauritius (July 24)
4- Skander Ben Tara of Tunisia v Cameroon (July 23)
4 - Mohamed Chikhi of Algeria v Botswana (July 23)
4 – Zouhair Elgaraoui of Morocco v Rwanda (July 22)
4 – Mohammed Hachdadi of Morocco v Rwanda (July 22)
Top Blocking Performances by Team
16 – Morocco v Rwanda (July 22)
13 - Morocco v Cameroon (July 24)
13 - Cameroon v Morocco (July 24)
12 - Tunisia v Mauritius (July 24)
12 - Tunisia v Cameroon (July 23)
12 - Cameroon v Tunisia (July 23)
11 – Cameroon v Mauritius (July 22)
Top Serving Performances
4 - Toufik Mahdjoubi of Algeria v Botswana (July 23)
3 - Ivan Nsabimana of Rwanda v Tunisia (July 25)
3 - Sofiane Bouyoucef of Algeria v Kenya (July 24)
3 - Khalid Ben Slimane of Tunisia v Cameroon (July 23)
3 - Hossam Youssef of Egypt v Kenya (July 22)
3 – Mohammed Hachdadi of Morocco v Rwanda (July 22)
3 – Mohammed Hachdadi of Morocco v Mauritius(July 25)
Top Serving Performances by Team
9 - Egypt v Kenya (July 22)
7 - Tunisia v Mauritius (July 24)
7 - Algeria v Botswana (July 23)
5 - Tunisia v Cameroon (July 23)
5 - Cameroon v Tunisia (July 23)
4 – Morocco v Rwanda (July 22)
4 - Rwanda v Morocco (July 22)
4 - Tunisia v Rwanda (July 25)
4 - Rwanda v Tunisia (July 25)
Highest Scorer by Round
Day 1: 20 – Mohammed Hachdadi of Morocco v Rwanda (July 22)
Day 2: 30 - Jean Ndaki of Cameroon v Tunisia (July 23)
Day 3: 27 - Mohamed Hachdadi of Morocco v Cameroon (July 24)
Day 4: 23 - Mohamed Hachdadi of Morocco v Mauritius (July 25)
Highest Set Score
Day 1: Morocco v Rwanda, 25-23 (July 22)
Day 2: Rwanda v Mauritius 26-24 (July 23)
Day 3: Morocco v Cameroon 30-28 (July 24)
Day 4: Morocco v Mauritius 28-26 (July 25)
Highest Scoring Matches
Day 1: Cameroon v Mauritius (July 22) 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-18) – 133 points
Day 2: Cameroon v Tunisia (July 23) 3-2 (25-23, 12-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12) - 205 points
Day 3: Cameroon v Morocco (July 24) 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 30-28, 25-21) - 193 points
Day 4: Egypt v Algeria (July 25) 3-2 (24-26, 25-19 ,25-20, 22-25, 15-10) - 211 Points
Results
Pool A