Egypt see of Algeria to keep slim Olympic hopes alive
Tunisia also continued their winning ways with victory over winless Ghana 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-21).
Egypt top the round robin tournament after the third day with a win-loss ratio of 2-1 but with one more match than Cameroon and Tunisia who are both second with a 2-0 record.
Ghana are third (0-3) ahead of Algeria (0-2) at the bottom of the pack.
The competition sees five teams competing for a slot to the 2012 Olympic Games with the winner moving on to London.
Egypt v Algeria 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 26-24)
Egypt saw off a battling Algeria 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 26-24) in their third match, the second victory for the reigning African champions after losing their opener against arch rivals Tunisia.
Outside hitter Ahmed Abdelhay and wing spiker Mohamed Badawy were central to the victory with 13 points apiece, while Mahdi Hachemi was Algeria’s top scorer with 12.
The Algerians looked tired after their brave performance against Cameroon on Thursday and the side are now out of the race for a place at the Olympic Games.
Egypt took an early lead in the first set which they kept to clinch the set.
Algeria sprinted ahead in the second but were eventually pegged back by their Egyptian rivals before they were eventually put to the sword in the third, crashing out of contention for a ticket to London.
“Algeria played a great match. My opinion is that Algeria is a good team. Our players were well prepared for this competition through other competitions in which we participated specially the World Cup and All Arab Games,” Egypt coach Sherif El Shemerly said.
“The formula with five championship team is very restrictive as it only requires a defeat to review its calculations,” Algerian coach Kamel Imeloul lamented. “We lost our two games. Coming here, we had very good intentions. The competition was a different story.”
Tunisia v Cameroon 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-21)
Tunisia needed little effort to dispatch of the less experienced Ghana 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-21) in 59 minutes to improve their record to 2-0.
Tunisia’s promising star Elyes Karamosly was the top scorer with 17 points whereas Seido Ajanko led Ghana with 14.
Ghana stayed in touch early on in the match before Tunisia raced ahead to take the first set.
Ghana’s performance faltered in the second as they easily succumbed the Tunisians.
A late rally failed to materialize in the third as the North African side strolled off with the win.
The fourth day of action will see hosts Cameroon meet Egypt aiming for revenge following defeat in last year’s African Nations Championship, while Algeria plays Tunisia in another North African derby.
Match Schedule and results
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 :
– 1600 h : TUN v EGY 3-1 (25-23, 16-25, 29-27, 25-23)
– 1800 h : CMR v GHA 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-12)
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012:
– 1600 h : GHA v EGY 0-3 (21-25, 8-25, 17-25)
– 1800 h : ALG v CMR 2-3 (24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 27-25, 18-20)
Thursday, January 19th, 2012:
– 1600 h : EGY v ALG 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 26-24)
– 1800 h : TUN v GHA 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-21)
Friday, January 20th, 2012 :
– 1600 h : ALG v TUN
– 1800 h : CMR v EGY
Saturday, January 21st, 2012 :
– 1400 h : GHA v ALG
