African Sitting Volleyball: Nigeria targets Games tickets as tourney starts
The President of the Nigeria Para Volleyball Federation, Kayode Ladele has revealed that the country’s para volleyball men and women’s teams are prepared to sweep the tickets at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games’ qualifiers got underway Monday at the Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
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Ladele made this declaration in Lagos on Saturday while addressing journalists about the readiness of the federation to host the event which will have in attendance teams from Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Algeria, and Libya, all vying for a chance to participate in the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Ladele said the federation chose Elaiuty Mosaad, who led Egypt to a bronze medal finish at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, because the NPVF knew that getting one of the best coaches in the world with a proven track record was non-negotiable.
Ladele said, “in preparing them for this, when we started, we got a foreign coach, one of the best coaches in the world in sitting volleyball. He spent a month with players and selected coaches, to prepare them.”
The federation boss also assured, “the Nigerian representatives are very ready. Although we are new in the sport, but I tell you, we have very talented kids whose performance belies their experience. It is unbelievable.”
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According to the Director of Sports, African Para Volleyball Federation Mohammed Lamrini, there are seven male and three female teams featuring. The men are in Groups A and B while the women will play in a round robin format. “The first two teams from each group automatically qualifies for the semi final while the last team in pool B automatically crash out,” he said
For the women, there will be six matches in the group stage and the final match to determine the winner of the championship.”
The first two teams in the male and female categories automatically qualify for the Paralympics.