Sports
NIGERIA, yesterday, failed to qualify for next year’s FIVB U-21 World Championship following the junior national team’s 0-3 loss to their Cameroonian counterparts in the third-place match of the just concluded African U-21 championship in Tunisia.
With the loss, Nigeria failed to finish among the top three countries in the championship, losing in straight sets, 21-25 20-25 23-25 in the match.
Sluggish from the beginning of the tie, the Nigerian team handed the initiative to their opponents in the first set, an advantage they took to lead by 7-2 points. It became an uphill struggle for Nigeria from thence, but they managed to restrict the Cameroonians to a 25-21 lead.
The second period looked promising for Nigeria, as they led 13 to 11, but some unforced errors saw them lose the set by 25 to 20 points.
Nigeria seemed on a resurgence in the final set, holding Cameroun to 23 to 23 at some point, but the winners had two quick blocks to win the third and deciding set by 25 to 23.
Although worried by the loss, Nigeria’s Head Coach, Sani Mohammed, however, commended his players for finishing fourth at the championship. He said they did well all through, as they were not given any chance of success at the competition.
“I am really proud of the players. Our intention was to pick one of the available slots for the 2023 FIVB World Championship, but in the end, we could not achieve that.
“The last time we participated at the Under-21 Championship, we finished sixth; now, we have finished fourth. So, it is an improvement. We came into this competition, as underdogs because our results had not been impressive in the under-21 category,” he said.
Mohammed said most of his players have the potential to become world-beaters in the nearest future and advised the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF) to keep the players together for future encounters.
“The players have been together for a long time and I have a strong conviction that they will become world-beaters in the future. I am appealing to the leadership of the federation to keep this set of players, because their best is yet to be seen by the world,” the coach said.
Just three teams will represent Africa at the 2023 Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) World Cup Championship. They are champions, Egypt, Tunisia and Cameroun.
The 2022 Under-21 Men’s African Volleyball Championship, which began on August 13, ended yesterday.
-The Guardian
KN
Tags: FIVB U-21 World Championship NVBF Sani Mohammed
