Tunisian players celebrating their ninth African title

Tunis, Tunisia, March 9, 2013 - Tunisia captured their third consecutive African title and their ninth in total after defeating their arch rivals, Egypt 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21) in the final of the 2013 Men's Junior African Nations Championship held at the Sidi Boussaid hall in Tunis, Tunisia on Saturday.

Tunisia now has nine titles (1984, 1986, 1988, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2010 and 2013), ahead of both Egypt and Algeria with two titles and Morocco with one.

Rwanda won the bronze medal after beating Morocco 3-0 (27-25, 27-25, 25-21) in the match for third place - a step further than their fourth place win at the 2010 competition.

Algeria finished fifth by defeating Libya 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-18), and RD Congo ended their campaign in seventh place following victory over their neighbours Congo Brazaville 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21).

The Control Committee led by Touria Aarab with Kalala, Hassan Ahmed and Howyda Mondy presented the cup to the winners along with the Local Organizing Committee President Munir Benslimane and the representative of the Ministry of Youth.  

Tunisia, Egypt, Rwanda and Morocco had already secured the four African vacancies at the FIVB World Championship to be held in Turkey by reaching the semifinals.

Final

Tunisia continued their golden era winning their ninth title in this age category after they over took rivals Egypt 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21) in 96 minutes.

Tunisia used the strong spike service to disturb the Egyptian defence and succeeded to lead 8-5 at the first technical time out. Tunisia used the disturbed state of Egyptian backline defence to widen the point deficit to 16-9 at the second technical time out. Tunisia's block led by Brahim Mohamed and Elyes Garfi was very strong, taking Tunisia to a 24-13 win. Egypt rebounded and scored four successive points before Tunisia won the set 25-17 in 23 minutes. 

In the second set Tunisia continued their attacking rhythm through Ousama Mrika and Malek Chekir to advance 8-6. Egypt played their best as Mohamed Adel blocked well and used the proper reception to build up the attacks through the opposite Ahmed Said and the wing spiker Islam Abelsamie to lead for the first time at the technical time out 16-13. Tunisia made it tight again after they drew 16-16, 20-20 and 22-22 before Egypt scored three successive points to win 25-22.

Egypt started the second set with the same inertia and succeeded to lead 8-6 at the first technical timeout due to the proper service and powerful attacks through Said and Islam from the wings and Adel from the center. Tunisia started to arrange their block when Egyptian players committed a lot of mistakes allowing Tunisia to lead 16-13 and then 19-14 forcing the Egypt coach to call a timeout.

The fourth set showed Egypt regaining their dominance through the proper reception and concentrated attack to lead 8-6 and 13-11 before Tunisia rebounded through their blocker Garfi to draw 15-15 before leading 16-15 at second technical time out.  Tunisia aided by their spectators succeeded to win the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.

Bronze medal

Rwanda earned their first ever medal in their history of volleyball following their win against Morocco 3-0 (27-25, 27-25, 25-21) in 88 minutes. 
 
The first set was very competitive as both teams went point by point till they drew 24-24.  Rwanda came on time to win the crucial points and win the set 27-25.

Morocco started the second set with proper blocking against the Rwandan attacks from the wings of the net which allowed them to advance quickly to 13-9. However the Rwandan team started to build up the attacks through their spiker Aimable Mutuyimana to bring back the draw 15-15. The Moroccan players committed several mistakes that allowed the Rwandan team to win 27-25.    

Although Morocco had an early lead Rwanda regained their rhythm and succeeded to improve their defence and block to regain the lead and win the set 25-21 and the match 3-0.

"I rested the main players in the semifinal match against Egypt because it was difficult to beat them. This way we could concentrate on the third place and we succeeded in getting it," said Rwanda coach Bitok. "I want to thank the Ministry of Sport in Rwanda for supporting the younger generation. I also thank the CAVB for their work in increasing the African vacancies to 4 instead of 2 in the World Championships."

5th position

Algeria clinched the fifth position after their straight sets victory against the fighting Libyan team 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-18) in a thrilling encounter that lasted 69 minutes. Algeria, with two titles to their name, ended the competition inf fifth position and Libya in sixth.
 
7th position

RD Congo fought well against their neighbours Congo Brazzaville to win 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21) due to the efforts of their spikers Masako Shesha and Banza Mboyi who sent their sharp spikes from all directions. The match which lasted 70 minutes was intense but RD Congo was more stable to win. 

Individual prizes

MVP: no. 14 Malek Chekir (Tunisia)
Beat Server: no. 13 Mohamed Brahim (Tunisia)
Best Reception: no. 6 Reda Abdelmagid (Egypt)
Best Setter: no. 2 Amine Zayani (Morocco)
Best Attacker: no. 2 Aimable Mutuyimana (Rwanda)
Best Blocker: no. 17 Mohamed Adel (Egypt)
Best Libero: no. 16 Tayeb Korbosli (Tunisia)

Final Results

Final
Egypt v Tunisia 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21)

Bronze medal
Rwanda v Morocco 3-0 (27-25, 27-25, 25-21)

5 and 6 positions
Algeria v Libya 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-18)

7 and 8 positions
RD Congo v Congo Brazzaville 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21)

Ranking 9 and 10 on Friday
South Africa v Sierra Leone 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-21)

Final standings

1. Tunisia
2. Egypt
3. Rwanda
4. Morocco
5. Algeria
6. Libya
7. RD Congo
8. Congo Brazzaville
9. South Africa
10. Sierra Leone

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