Beach Volleyball: Angola Deny Nigeria Olympic Slot

Angola’s Beach Volleyball team have denied Team Nigeria a slot at the 2012 Olympics in London after the Men’s team were stopped by Angola in the semi-final of the qualifiers that ended yesterday in Mauritius.

The Angolans overcame Nigeria 4-0 in a tough encounter. Speaking on their performance in Mauritius, President of Nigeria Beach Volleyball Commission, Musa Nimrod said: “It was a painful defeat for us to lose 4-0 to the same Angolan side that defeated us in Abuja last October. It shows we still have a long way to go if we must measure up with Angola and South Africa, who are the two teams that always give us problems.”

The Nigerian side would get another shot at qualification through the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification tournament in Torino Italy in June.

South Africa defeated Congo Brazzaville in their semi-final match to book a ticket against Angola in the final match.

The winner in the final will secure a direct ticket to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The countries that participated in the tourney included Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and hosts, Mauritius.

South Africa are Africa champions after they won Gold at the 2011 All-Africa Games, while Angola is seeking qualify for the Olympics for a second time.

Mauritius have seen a spike in interest for beach volleyball recently, mainly due to the women’s success at the All Africa Games in Mozambique where they took home the gold medal.

—Bamidele Olowosagba