Bitok targets semi-finals at African Nations Championship

Rwandavolleyball team head coach Paul Bitok has revealed that his side’s objective is to make it to the semi-finals of the upcoming 2015 Men’s African Nations Championship set for July 21-30 in Cairo, Egypt. Despite having just a fortnight to prepare for the continental showpiece, Bitok is confident that his players, who he says have improved tremendously in the last four years, will make their mark against powerhouses like Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria. “We want to use this competition as preparation for the All Africa Games. I do not want to put pressure on the players because it is a very short training time to get high results but going by what we have been doing for the last four years, I believe Rwanda has risen to a very good level so our target is to be in the semifinal,” said Bitok. The Kenyan trainer is quick to admit that it will be a tall order to overcome the continental giants. He said, “I know it is going to be very, very tough because we have Egypt who have just qualified for the second round in the FIVB World League, Tunisia who have also participated in the World League, Cameroon who made it to the quarter-finals of the World Championships.” “There is also Algeria that we have never beaten and Morocco is also coming up very well. And of course our East African rivals Kenya. If we meet them, it will be tough.” However, he further added that, “We are targeting the semi-finals so that we can have a good ranking next year because in the next World League, Africa will be having two more slots because Egypt have already qualified for the second round which will be Tunisia and another country.” Bitok, who is assisted by Jean Marie Nsengiyumva, said he is impressed with the national team’s progress since they started training last Tuesday.

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Bitok targets semi-finals at African Nations Championship