2012 Olympic Qualifiers – Team to Battle Morocco, Gambia

Concord Times (Freetown)

6 June 2011

Freetown — The Sierra Leone Beach Volleyball team will have to battle against Morocco, Liberia, Mauritania, The Gambia, Niger, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Cape Verde for a place in the forthcoming 2012 Olympic Games.

After successfully qualified from the preliminary round, the country is now drawn in Group A of the qualifiers along the other nine nations to battle for a place in London.

Beside the court battle, Sierra Leone is currently engaged in another battle with the likes of neighbouring Guinea, Senegal and Morocco after they have all expressed their interest to host the qualifiers.

However, the Confederation of Africa Beach Volleyball Association (CAVB) is still contemplating which one of the four nations will be the rightful choice although Sierra Leone, according to reports, stands a better chance after successfully hosting the last Sub Zonal beach tournament.

Already, the Sierra Leone Volleyball Association (SLVA) has commenced training session for both the male and female teams with the qualifiers slated for June.

Meanwhile, 12 players have been invited for training but only four male and four female will eventually be selected to represent the country in the games.

Also, the SLVA has for the first time registered its players with the world governing body, FIVB and the registered players are: Saran Kabba, Augusta Dora Coker, Hawa Kargbo Florence Amara, Mohamed Bassie, Mohamed Bawoh Benson, Mohamed Kamara, Sanpha Kamara and Abu Bakarr Bangura.

In related development, after finishing as runners up behind Morocco in the last CAVB Continental Beach Volleyball zonal competition, Sierra Leone has now be ranked amongst the top 30 African countries on the CAVB Continental Cup Chart.

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