· Egypt successfully defends their women’s title as Morocco go one better to emerge as men’s champions
· Both Egypt and Morocco go unbeaten, with the men’s champions not losing a single set
· Volleyball Empowerment supported teams Mozambique and South Africa show improvement from 2019 edition to claim women’s and men’s silver medals respectively
· Botswana and Nigeria settled for men’s and women’s bronze
Egypt and Morocco are the African Games Accra 2023 beach volleyball champions.
While Egypt retained their women’s title from the previous edition held in Rabat in 2019, Morocco upgraded their silver medal to gold to emerge as men’s champions.
Egypt’s pair of FIVB Athletes’ Commission member Doaa Elghobashy and Marwa Magdy defeated Mozambique’s Vanessa Muianga and Ana Paula Sinaporta 2-1 in the women’s final played on Thursday at Laboma beach Resort in Accra, Ghana.
That was the only set dropped by the Egyptians in the entire competition having beaten Rwanda and Kenya in straight sets in the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively to reach the final.
The silver medal was an improvement for Mozambique who claimed bronze in the 2019 edition. The FIVB has invested in 12 months of coach support worth CHF 72,000 in Mozambique with Brazilian coach Alexandre Pontel taking charge of both the men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams.
Nigeria’s Esther Mbah and Pamela Bawa beat Valentine Munezero and Benitha Mukandayisenga of Rwanda 2-0 in the third-place play-off to claim bronze.
Mozambique’s women’s team display their silver medals alongside FIVB coach Alexandre Pontel (centre) and the men’s team (Photo credits: CAVB)
In the men’s category, Morocco’s Mohamed Abicha and Soufiane El-Gharrouti defeated South Africa’s Leo Williams and Danilo Von Ludwiger 2-0 in the men’s final also played on Thursday.
It was a perfect run for the Moroccans who did not drop a set in the entire competition having topped Pool A unbeaten before beating Ghana and Botswana 2-0 in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.
Silver for South Africa was a big improvement having finished fourth in 2019. The FIVB has invested CHF 54,000 into six months of coach support in South Africa with Australian coach Adam Maskell taking charge of both the men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams.
The men’s podium at the African Games Accra 2023 (Photo credits: CAVB)
Botswana’s duo of George Chiswaniso and Jack Sekao secured bronze after beating Sierra Leone’s Aruna Ahmed and Kamara Musa 2-0 in the third-place play-off.
A total of 17 women’s teams and 19 men’s teams took part in the 13th edition of the quadrennial competition.