Algeria play Egypt in opening match of African Olympic volleyball qualifier
The host team Algeria will take on heavy favourites Egypt in a thrilling opening encounter of the African Women’s Olympic Qualification volleyball tournament to be played in Blida, Algeria, which starts on Thursday before finishing on Saturday, after the drawing of lots was held on Wednesday.
The other match on the opening day of the four nation tournament sees reigning African champions Kenya play the Seychelles.
The drawing of lots was attended by CAVB vice president Idriss Dokony (Chad), CAVB technical director Howyda Mondy (Egypt), referee delegate Abdelmajid Djerad (Tunisia), VIS delegate Hichem Sayed (Egypt) and VIS and medical delegate Mamadou Ndoye (Senegal).
The winner of the competition will qualify for one of the 12 berths at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Algeria was the only African women's side to play at the 2008 Olympic Games while Kenya had the honour in 2004 and 2000. All three times, Africa's representative finished 11th.
Match Schedule Thursday, February 2, 2012 16:00: Algeria v Egypt 18:00: Seychelles v Kenya Friday, February 3, 2012 1500: Algeria v Seychelles 17:00: Kenya v Egypt Saturday, February 4, 2012 15:00: Algeria v Kenya 17:00: Egypt v Seychelles
Women's teams already qualified for the London Olympic Games: Italy (World Cup winner) USA (World Cup second place) China (World Cup third place)
