By OSCAR PILIPILI
Kampala, Uganda: The national women’s volleyball team is one step away from qualifying for the 2014 FIVB World Championships to be held in Italy in September 23 to October 12.
Kenya topped the Africa Zone Five Qualifiers that ended in Kampala last Saturday.
The team returned home Sunday night after traveling by road from Kampala.
Kenya qualified alongside Egypt and Uganda during the Championships that attracted four countries.
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And in a surprise turn of events, the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) announced that Kenya had already qualified for the final round of the qualifiers scheduled for January.
A statement from CAVB read in part: “Kenya already qualified to the finals as one of the top two African countries in the FIVB world ranking, along with Algeria.”
Early reports had indicated that the top three finishers would advance to the finals.
According to the drawing of lots earlier this month, Uganda will be drawn in Pool Two of the finals, while Kenya and Egypt will play in a strong Group One. Other teams that have qualified for Group One are Cameroon, Senegal and Tunisia. The finals will involve 12 teams to be divided into two pools of six each.
The tournament is played in league format and winners of each pool earn automatic qualification to FIVB World Championships.
By the end of the four nation round-robin tournament, Kenya topped the zonal qualifier with a perfect 3-0, followed by Uganda with a win/loss ratio of 2-1. Egypt followed in third place, with a 1-2 score ahead of Tanzania who came fourth (0-3).
The national team that is coached by David Lung’aho defeated Tanzania 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-11). Uganda pulled off a historical 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-19) against Egypt at the MTN Arena in Lugogo on Saturday.
According to the drawing of lots earlier this month, Uganda will be drawn in Pool Two of the finals, while Egypt and Kenya play in Pool One.
Kenya, who have qualified as the top seeds from their zone, now look to the final qualification berth as Tanzanian go back to embark on a journey that will promote and make the sport popular among locals.
Kenyan team assistant coach Sammy Kirongo said: “Although we finished the tournament as zonal winners we didn’t play our game.”
“I can attribute the below par performance to fatigue that was evident in the team after traveling by road from Nairobi to Kampala,” he said.
Bitok said: “It was great tournament for the young Tanzanian team because we’ve achieved our objective that was to gain exposure.”
“We came here to learn from big teams and I’m happy my team played so well despite not winning any of the matches,” he said. “Our performance is clear indication that Tanzania has talent and I urge the Confederation of African Volleyball to support the country,” said Bitok.
