TodayUganda Vs Kenya 4pmRwanda Vs South Sudan 7pm

For the Rwanda volleyball fraternity, all roads will lead to Amahoro Indoor Stadium today as FIVB Zone V Africa Cup of Nations qualifying tournament gets underway. I will run through July 26.

The four-day tournament, which also doubles as the first qualification round for the 2018 World Championships, is expected to attract four teams namely; hosts Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and newcomers South Sudan.

The top two teams will qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations that will be held in Egypt in October where the top two teams will earn tickets to play at the 2018 World championships finals that will be held in Japan from September 30 to October 21.

With all the four teams playing against each other on a round robin format, Uganda and Kenya will be looking to revenge against Rwanda, who beat them in the last two previous tournaments that were held in Rwanda in 2013 and 2015.

Rwanda’s head coach Paul Bitok is confident his men will make the most of home advantage to qualify for the African Cup of Nations.

He said: "We will aim at winning all games. We know it is not going to be easy as all teams will be aiming to win and qualify but we are ready for the challenge.”

Rwanda will start their campaign against South Sudan while Uganda meets Kenya in the second match in the afternoon.

Rwanda, who finished as runner-up in 2015 behind Egypt, and won the event in 2011 and 2013, will be hoping to go a step further, in part thanks to the fact that the North African side will not be in the tournament.

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