Rwanda men beach volleyball team is seeking to use the CAVB beach championships to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games, which will be held in Tunisia starting today until May 9. Rwanda are in a tough group that also comprises hosts Tunisia, Serra Leone, Gambia, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire while the other group compromise Ghana, Angola, Mozambique, Burundi, Egypt and Morocco. Rwanda volleyball team will be looking to win all the games in order to qualify for Olympics. According to the national team head coach, Paul Bitok, the team will be looking for nothing short of qualification for the Olympic Games for the first time. The former Kenya international said, “Our aim is to look for the qualification which is very difficult because we will be competing against big countries and it will be hard to win the title but we will try our best to make the country proud,” He noted, “The competition will be difficult, but our players are strong and they have been improving and we hope they will do a good job.” The Rwandan team includes Olivier Ntagengwa, Patrick Kavalo, Flavien Ndamukunda and Pierre Marshal Kwizera. The country that wins the tournament will qualify for the Rio Olympics, while the first and second runners up will join teams from other continents for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, whose dates and venue are yet to be confirmed. Meanwhile the Rwanda women will compete in FIVB World Olympics qualifications in Russia from 4-10 July 2016 after Rwandan women failed to qualify directly for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after losing to Egypt 2-1 in the final of the CAVB Beach Volleyball Championships in Abuja, Nigeria last month. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
