May 15, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr
Sierra Leone men’s beach volleyball national team has secured a place to the Vienna World beach volleyball Championship later this year.
The duo; Abubakarr I. Kamara and Patrick Lombie, who are in Pool B alongside Tunisia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya secured three wins out of four matches in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Maputo, Mozambique.
In their opening clash, Kamara and Lombie defeated their South African opponent in a two straight sets 2-0 (21-19, 27-25) but went on to suffer in the hands of Tunisia 2 sets to 1 (13-21, 21-14 and 13-15.)
On Saturday, in the all West African clash, Sierra Leone secured a comfortable two straight sets win over Nigeria 21-8, 21-4. The combative Sierra Leonean duo went on to secure a hard -fought victory over their East African opponent, Kenya.
Sierra Leone took the first sets 21-11 before the Kenyans bounced back very strong to take the second sets 22-20, but they could not hold on as Kamara and Lombie moved quickly to settle the final set 15-10.
For Coach Sorie Kamara, who trained the squad before their departure, the lads were also in line for Commonwealth Games qualification, and that success in the semi-finals could automatically earn them a place in Gold Coast 2018.
Kamara who was unable to travel with the team following loss of his brother said: “I have no doubt in the squad and I believe they can achieve the goals we targeted during our preparation before their departure.”
Meanwhile, the female duo; Frances Lansana and Zainab Kamara suffered an open defeat to Mauritius and Kenya respectively. Mauritius puts up a 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 13-15) win and also beaten by Kenya in the second game.