Egypt hammer Kenya in Africa Nations Championship

In Cairo

Wafalme Stars’ dream of going all the way in the African Nations Championship was dimmed by hosts Egypt on Friday after losing 3-0 (17-25,19-25,25-27) to the Pharaohs in a Round of 16 match at Cairo International Stadium.

Kenya will now play in classification matches as the tournament enters the quarter-finals stage on Saturday.

Enock Mogeni led Kenya with a game-high 19 points (14 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces). Haikal Reda, who replaced captain Ahmed Salah in the first team, replied for Egypt with 13 points (12 kills, 1 ace).

"We have 14 players in this team who are available for selection to improve the performance of the team. We did make this choice so we are happy it worked and will keep doing what is best for the team to keep winning," said Egypt coach Flavio Gulinelli.  

The last time these two teams met was in 2021 when Kenya registered a historic 3-2 win over the Pharaohs in the previous edition held in Rwanda, Kigali.

Coach Gideon Tarus had rallied his charges to prove the 2021 result was not a fluke but they were given a timely reminder why Egypt are eight-time champions of Africa when Mohamed Masoud stopped Mogeni with a monster block to give the hosts an 8-5 lead.

Brian Melly landed an ace to draw Kenya level at 9-9 but Egypt went on a three-point rally which was crowned by Ahmed Shafik’s ace to force Tarus to call for a timeout.

Yet the Egyptians peeled further away through Haikal Reda’s kill for a 15-11 lead. Kenya’s libero Sam Juma was penalized for rolling at 20-15 and when Egypt’s setter Abdalla Hossam made two successive tips on the turn, the set point arrived with the men in white leading 24-17.

Shafik’s block on Abiud Chirchir ensured the hosts started on the right footing with a 25-17 score.

Tarus introduced Dennis Omollo to his first team for the second set as he switched captain Mogeni from outside hitter to opposite.

An ace party orchestrated by Shafik handed Egypt a healthy 5-1 lead and Tarus rang the bell to reorganize his team. Masoud stretched Egypt’s lead to six points with an ace of his own and a brief mini-revival by Kenya was soon checked by a timeout from Gulinelli.

Joshua Kimaru joined the fray in place of Cornelius Kiplagat but Egypt’s superiority showed as Abdelrahman Seoudy shut out Brian Kamonde to carry his side to 19-14. Substitute Mohamed Khater came off the bench to deliver the set point with a brilliant ace and it’s Reda who sealed the set at 25-19 after his spike came off Chirchir’s block and the ball touched the antenna on its way out. 

"We prepared well for this game but we didn't expect this result (to win 3-0). We played well in the first two sets but in the third set Kenya was amazing in defence and reception. I am grateful to the fans who pushed the team well and I hope we can get even more coming to our matches," said Gulinelli.

Trailing by two sets, Tarus chose to start with Joshua Kimaru at outside hitter ahead of Omollo for the third set which was fiercely contested. Both teams exchanged leads until 16-16 when Mogeni denied Ahmed Afifi with a monster block before notching two aces in a row to put Kenya firmly in control at 22-18.

Egypt rallied from behind to level the set at 22-22, thanks to good services from substitute Mohamed Aly. Mogeni took the match to overtime with a clinical sideout before individual mistakes returned to haunt Kenya.

Kimaru had the last say when his back row attack flew out of court to confirm Egypt’s place in the quarter-finals on Saturday when they will take on Morocco at 7pm.

"We had high hopes of reaching the quarter-finals but we didn't do well in the first two sets today. We had a good chance of winning the third set but poor finishing let us down. 

"We need to restrategise for the classification matches and win all of them to ensure we get more points to improve our ranking," said Mogeni.

Kenya, on the other hand, will play against Mali, in a ninth to 15th place quarter-final ranking match starting 5pm.