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KPA finish fifth as curtains fall on club championship

**KPA players in a past training session in Mombasa.** [Omondi Onyango, Standard

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Equity Bank settled for the fifth and tenth positions respectively as the 2022 African men’s club volleyball championship ended on Monday night in Tunisia.

Egypt’s Al-Ahly Sports Club were crowned the champions after dethroning the immediate former champions Esperance of Tunisia 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 24-26, 25-17) in a tough final.

The win enabled the Egyptians to earn their 15th continental crown.

To crown their good run in the tournament, Al-Ahly conceded only one set throughout the event with their player Ahmed Salah being awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) accolade. The Egyptians also increased the gap for the most titles in the competition, having won 15 times compared to their closest challengers Club Sportif of Tunisia who have won six titles.

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On their way to the final, the Egyptians stopped Port Douala of Cameroon 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-20) while Esperance edged out Rwanda’s Gisagara 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-20).

Gisagara went ahead to dismiss Port Douala 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18) to settle for the bronze medal.

KPA managed to settle for the fifth position after beating Kelibia of Tunisia 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 15-10).

In their maiden appearance last year, the dockers lost in the quarter-finals to settle for the fifth slot same as this year.

Equity Bank lost to As Duanes of Cameroon 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 24-26, 26-24, 15-1) in the battle for the ninth and tenth position.

The tournament attracted 14 teams that included Al Ahly (Egypt), Esperance (Tunisia), Gisagara (Rwanda), Port Doula (Cameron), KPA (Kenya), Kelibia (Tunisia) and Customs (Nigeria).

Others were FAP (Cameron), AS Duanes (Camron), Equity Bank (Kenya), Madda University (Ethiopia), AS Injs (Ivory Coast), VC Espoir (DRC) and Walaitta Dicha (Ethiopia).