Pomp as Zamalek win African Women’s Volleyball Club Championship in Abuja

By Jude Opara, Abuja

It was an evening filled with glamour as the African Women’s Volleyball Club Championship drew to a close at indoor sports hall of the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

At the end of proceedings, the all Egypt final between Zamalek Sports Club and Al Ahly ended in favour of Zamalek who has to dig deep to win the first game 29-27.

However, in the second game Al Ahly recovered from a shaky start to take the set 25-22.

In the third set, Zamalek rediscovered their fighting spirit to further punish their arch rivals by taking it without much stress 25-20.

Also in the fourth set, defending champions, Zamalek continued in their winning streak by dismissing Al Ahly 25-22, thereby winning the championship 3-1.

Earlier, in the third place match between KPC of Kenya and CF Carthage of Tunisian, the Kenyans won in three straight sets: 28-26, 25-14, 25-18 to clinch the bronze medal.

To reach the finals, Zamalek defeated Kenya Prisons 3 set to 1 (25-12, 25-20, 22-25, 27-25) while Ahly dismissed the Carthage of Tunisia in three straight sets: 25-15, 25-23, 25-21.

Meanwhile, in the qualification matches, host Nigeria only managed to place 10th and 11th as her two representatives, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) finished in that order respectively.

In the other rankings, KCB of Kenya and PRI also from Kenya finished fifth and sixth respectively while LTV from the Republic of Cameroon took the seventh position.

The duo of APR and PVC both from Rwanda ended the championship in the eight and ninth position respectively. The VLL of Congo placed 12th, while MKE of Cameroon took the 13th position.

The trio of OMD of Ivory Coast, SOC from Senegal and SSV representing Botswana rounded up the competition in the 24th, 25th and 16th positions respectively.

The final was graces by different dignitaries including the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu and members of the diplomatic corps.