Kenya Prisons beat Redskin (Lesotho) 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-22) in Pool A of the 2018 Men’s African Club Championship at Ahly Hall in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.
Prisons were the better side throughout the match and clinched their first win of the competition.
Kenyan teams will seek to go beyond the semi-finals at the tournament. Kenya Prisons were close to winning the title in 2011, but were beaten in the finals by Al-Ahly.
Coach Paul Muthinja believes he can go one level better to clinch the Africa crown and a ticket to the World Club Championships in Italy.
“The team has more experience and focus at the moment. We face stiff challenge to emerge top because the North African clubs have better training and welfare, but we will give them a run for their money,” said Muthinja.
Prisons face holders Al-Ahly in Pool A along with Police from Cote d’Ivoire, Espoir (Congo), Nemostar (Uganda), and Redskin (Lesotho). “There are no weak teams in our draw. It is what you expect when you play at this level. It is down to what training and preparations you have done,” added the coach.
Kenya’s other team, General Service Unit, have been pooled alongside Port Club of Cameroon, Olympique of Algeria, Kampala City Club of Uganda, Wollaitta of Ethiopia, and Egypt’s Elguish.
In Pool C, FAP of Cameroon will battle it out with AS Police (Benin), Ahly Beni Ghazi (Libya), University of Zimbabwe, Smuoha (Egypt), and Mwangaza.
Meanwhile, Libya’s Ahly Beni ghazi registered a first win over University of Zimbabwe 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-17) in a Pool C match at Ahly Hall yesterday. [Xinhua]