Volleyball: Commonwealth Games beach volleyball African qualifiers - Seychelles win bronze medal |02 November 2017

Seychelles have won the bronze medal at theCommonwealth Games beach volleyball African qualifiers won by Rwanda.

On the final day of competition on Sunday in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the duo of Hilary Nourrice and Angelique Adeline exacted revenge on the Mauritian team of Vanessa Chellumben and Liza Bonne with a 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 15-9) victory in the third place playoff encounter.

Playing without a coach but with Seychelles Volleyball Federation (SVF) executive member Elsia Vidot in their corner, the Seychelles team had earlier the same day lost 0-2 (13-21, 10-21) to eventual gold medallists Rwanda in the semifinal.

Nourrice and Adeline who both play for Praslin Girls qualified for the semifinals after taking fourth place in the standings at the end of the round-robin stage with one win against hosts Sierra Leone 2-1 (21-18, 14-21, 15-8) on day two of the competition.

They had in fact lost their first three games 0-2 (12-21, 21-23) to Nigeria, 0-2 (10-21, 12-21) to Rwanda on day one, Friday and 0-2 (13-21, 19-21) to Mauritius on day two.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION via Whatsapp before taking a boat to head to the airport, Adeline said they are happy to have made Seychelles proud.

“We are proud of ourselves and also for winning a bronze medal for Seychelles,” said Adeline, who added that she played just once in a beach volleyball tournament before representing Seychelles in Freetown.

“It was tough at first as we had never played together before and did not even get to practice, but we easily built up chemistry between us. I’m proud of what we have achieved together although we were penalised a lot for not knowing most of the rules of beach volleyball,” added the left-handed Adeline.

As for Nourrice, she said “the competition was tough, but we are satisfied with the end result as we will be coming home with a bronze medal”.

The Seychelles delegation is expected home this afternoon.

A bronze medal after taking third place is an encouraging result for Nourrice and Adeline who were drafted in at the last minute to represent Seychelles after the mother and daughter duo of Jerina and Marielle Bonne turned down the SVF’s offer to take part at the qualifiers in Freetown.

As a result, the local volleyball body has been tough in its ruling, hitting the two players who play for both Arsu and the country’s national team with five-year bans effective the volleyball season 2018. They will not be allowed to take part in any volleyball or volleyball related activities locally.

Jerina and Marielle Bonne had been a dominant force in local beach volleyball and they stood a great chance of making the final and possibly winning the gold medal to automatically qualify for the Commonwealth Games which will be held in Gold Coast, Australia next year in April.

But the tickets to Gold Coast have now gone to the Rwandan duo of Charlotte Nzayisenga and Denyse Mutatsimpundu.

Coached by Christophe Mudahinyuka and labelled the favourites at the start of the competition, Charlotte Nzayisenga and Denyse Mutatsimpundu beat the Nigerian pair 2-0 to capture the gold medal and qualify for the Commonwealth Games and they will be going to Australia in April 2018. This will be the first time beach volleyball is included on the Commonwealth Games programme.

Mutatsimpundu and Nzayisenga won a gold medal at the 2017 CAVB beach volleyball cup in Maputo, Mozambique in May. In 2012, the duo, while playing at the junior level, won gold at the Africa Championships in Togo but failed to take part in the World Championships in Canada after the hosts denied the Rwandan team entry visas.

Meanwhile, the SVF has said it is proud of the team’s achievement.

A press release dated October 30, 2017 and signed by SVF secretary general Terry Servina reads: “Seychelles is proud of the team’s performance despite last minute pressure.”

The release adds that at this moment Seychelles is yet to know its qualification status as the organising federation will be compiling all results by today, October 31, 2017, and then communicate the outcome of each country’s qualification.

“All teams participating in the qualification tournaments will be advised whether they have qualified automatically or through invitation. Such will be made official soon by the organising committee. Should Seychelles qualify, the team will participate in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April 2018,” adds the press release.

The SVF has also expressed its gratitude to all who have in a way or another help and ensure Seychelles’ involvement in the qualifiers.

“We thank Hilary Nourrice and Genevieve Adeline for representing our country and indeed for putting on a great performance,” adds the SVF.

G. G.