Peerless Carthage sink Sfaxien to win Africa Clubs Championship
What you need to know:
- This is Carthage's second title in their history.
- Defending champions Al Ahly of Egypt opted out of this championship.
- Kenya Prisons won the bronze medal after beating Customs of Nigeria 3-0 in the third place play-offs match
In Kelibia, Tunisia
Carthage are the 2021 Women's African Clubs Championship champions.
The African giants gained sweet revenge on their Tunisian rivals CS Sfaxien with a deserved 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-22) win to earn them a second African title.
Carthage, who came into the final with a 100 per cent record, were forced to dig deep in the second and third set to overcome the stubborn Sfaxien side who will rue letting comfortable leads escape them in the tense final that lived up to its billing.
Victory at the Aissa Ben Nasr Hall in Kelibia on Friday night adds to their 2017 title. The Tunisians have been finalists in the last five editions of this tournament.
Sfax coach Ben Chiekh Med Ali sprung a surprise starting with opposite Brik Mariem as a middle blocker in place of the injured Missaoui Rim yet it was Carthage who led 8-5 at the first technical timeout.
Two aces from setter Barhoumi Marwa saw Carthage extend their lead to 11-7 and they opened a five-point gap at the second technical timeout 16-11.
With Carthage in full control thanks to meticulous conversion by opposite Marina Tumas and captain Khouloud Jinhani, the former stamped their authority with a monster block on Mohamed Jihene to seal the set at 25-16.
Med Ali defiantly stuck with the same line-up for the second set and this time they gave Carthage a run for their money trailing only by the odd point 8-7 at the first technical timeout.
Sfax finally claimed the lead at 13-11 forcing Carthage coach Rekaya Kamel to make his first change, introducing setter Ben Soltane Ghofrane. A pipe attack from the impressive Jihene saw Sfax lead 16-12 at the second technical timeout and set them on course to levelling the game.
But it was not to be as their skipper Sammoud Khouloud lost her head after being frustrated by good blocks from Marina and Othmani Abir. She was eventually replaced by Agrebi Rahma but by the time she stepped out of court, Carthage were leading 23-20.
An ace from Jihene brought Sfax to within one point of Carthage at 24-23 and Kamel called for a timeout. Unfortunately, Jihene served out of court after the timeout to gift their rivals the set at 25-23.
Undeterred, Sfax led 8-4 with setter Mahjebi Badra’s services taking them to 13-4. However, a nine-point rally by Carthage led by their own setter Marwa cut Sfax’s lead to only three points at the second technical timeout 16-13.
Sfax went further ahead at 18-13 but Carthage kept chasing and finally drew level at 22-22.
Then the tale of the second set happened as they completed their comeback at 25-22 to emerge winners.