Egypt dream of World Grand Champions Cup vacancy
 Cairo,
Egypt, July 4, 2005 – Following their outstanding gold medal
victory at the Mediterranean Games in Spain on Sunday, world
number 21 Egypt are pinning their hopes on claiming the Africa
vacancy at the 2005 World Grand Champions Cup, which will be
held in Japan from November 22-27.
The Egyptian team arrived to a great reception at Cairo Airport
on Monday following their 3-2 victory over Spain in the final
and will now prepare for the African Nations Championship, which
will be held in Cairo from September 15-25, where the winner
will claim a ticket to the World Grand Champions Cup.
Pic: Egypt on the winner's podium at the Mediterranean Games
Tunisia, who finished fourth at the Mediterranean Games, are
Egypt’s biggest threat as current African champions as both
teams compete to be the first African side in history to secure
a place with the best six teams in the world in Japan.
Offering US$2 million in prize money, the 2005 World Grand
Champions Cup holds an important position on Volleyball’s
international calendar.
Held between the Olympic Games and the World Championships, and
featuring four continental champions from each gender (Africa
has only a vacancy in the men’s tournament), host nation Japan,
and two wild cards, it is one of the four major international
Volleyball competitions held every quadrennial.
Egypt turned a big page in the history after their respectable
victory over Spain, who are ranked 19th in the world, to claim
the gold medal of the competition for the first time.
"This is the best achievement for Egypt since I started with the
team in 2003," Serbian Coach of Egypt Veselin Vukovic said. "I
want to thank all my players specially Hamdy Elsafy and Ahmed
Salah for their high performance right through the competition
and particularly in the final."
Tunisia lost to Serbia Montenegro in the playoff for third 3-0
(25-20, 26-24, 29-27). |
