Rwanda men and women’s beach volleyball teams will be vying for a place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games when the second round qualifiers start today through to November 9 in Cairo, Egypt. The four teams, two pairs in each gender have been training in Rubavu for two weeks and hope to make it to Brazil next year. The two men’s teams comprise of Olivier Ntagengwa paired with Patrick Kavalo while Flavien Ndamukunda and Pierre Marshal Kwizera make up the other pair and are all coached by Jean Luc Ndayikengurukiye. Seraphine Mukantambara will play alongside Judith Hakizimana while Denyse Mutatsimpundu is paired with Charlotte Nzayisenga in the women’s category and are coached by Christopher Mudahinyuka. Speaking to Times Sport in an interview yesterday moments before takeoff, Ndayikengurukiye disclosed that they are heading into this competition with no other target except qualifying for the Olympics and explained that they are ready to represent the country. “We had enough and excellent preparations on both sides and all players are confident and in a good shape to put on a good fight to earn qualification,” said Ndayikengurukiye. The women will compete against Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt and Zimbabwe while the men will compete against Chad, Namibia, DR Congo, Angola and hosts Egypt. They will play on a robin round basis and the top three will qualify to the last round of qualification. In 2011, the duo of Mutatsimpundu and Nzayisenga failed to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games after losing to Mauritius and South Africa in the continental qualifiers held in Rubavu, while the team of Alex Nkuranga and Guillaume Irakarama also fell short in the men’s competition held in Morocco.
