Host Nigeria defeated Niger Republic 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) in the female category to secure a ticket for the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Germany next June.
Sportinglife.ng reports that Nigeria’s Tochukwu Nnoruga and Fransica Ikhiede fought hard to beat Rakatou Seydou and Roukaya Garba of Niger Republic in the quarterfinals of the ongoing 2019 Africa Beach Volleyball Cup Seniors at the Jabi Lake, Abuja.
Speaking after the game, Nigeria National team Coach, Imoudu Francis, commended the female team for picking the last ticket adding that the team will up good show when they lock horns with their Egyptian foes.
“The game was explosive because it was a desired and a qualification ticket people get to misunderstand the concept of this competition, is not winning the cup every team want to make sure that they are in the world cup, that is why we supported Sierra Leone to clinch the other ticket so that west Africa will have at less a nation in the world championship.”
Reacting to the result, the President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation, Engineer Musa Nimrod expressed satisfaction on team Nigeria performance so far in the tournament and promised to support the team in their quest to make the nation proud.
“Qualifying to the world championship is what we have being looking forward for; because it is one of the reasons we are hosting the games.”
The Sport Secretary General, Nigeria Custom Service, Samuel Onikeku said he was happy that the team made the country proud in the tournament.
“I’m happy that my players are representing Nigeria in this competition and they were able to secure a ticket for the country.
“We have been preparing our girls for years and this is the result of the preparation. The team just came from indoor championship which is a different ball game.
Meanwhile, Nigeria male team lost to Mozambique 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) in the first quarter final on Thursday.
Reacting to the defeat, coach of Nigeria, Francis Imoudo, said he was impressed with the performance of players even though they lost their match.
“Mozambique is currently the numbers one team in Africa and they have played together for nine year.
“I am a coach, I accept defeat because our opponents team had gone to world cup championship. I need to work more on my team because we have a championship in Cape Verde and the Africa Game in Morocco,” he said.