By Rodgers Eshitemi:
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Tuesday, April 9th 2019 at 00:45 GMT +3 | Volleyball and HandballKenya Prisons men’s coach David Lung’aho believes his players have learnt some valuable lessons from the African Club championship despite losing by straight sets (25-12, 25-22, 25-21) to Egyptian side Smouha in Sunday night’s quarterfinal, in Cairo.
The former national men’s volleyball league champions, who played in 2011 final and finished third in the 2013 edition, had a good run in the preliminary round losing only once in their six group C matches.
They lost 3-1 (25-20, 25-19 and 26-24) to Uganda’s Nemo in the position 5-8 playoffs yesterday.
But having watched his side give the hosts a run for their money, before eventually losing by a minimal scoreline in each set, the celebrated tactician is pleased with the warders’ fighting spirit.
“Though we lost, it was a very tough game for both teams. Smouha is a very strong team and actually one of the tournament’s favourites. But we are happy with what we did as a team because we fought hard and lost with very minimal scores,” said Lung’aho.
“I believe that’s a good platform to begin with. We have gotten very valuable lessons from here which I think help us in our development plans. Kudos to my players; they played well.”
“The reception was almost perfect and I’m very pleased with how they carried themselves in this tournament. Although we didn’t win the quarterfinals, in my heart I know we won.”
Meanwhile, record Kenyan champions General Service Unit thrashed Uganda Christian University by straight sets (25-18, 25-15, 25-22) in yesterday’s position 9-12 ranking matches.
This was the paramilitary side’s second win in the classification matches after overcoming AS Injs of Ivory Coast 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-17) on Sunday.
And having disappointingly failed to achieve their initial quarterfinals’ target, head coach Gideon Tarus has set his sights on finishing ninth.
GSU, who finished fifth last year, face off with Rwanda’s Gisagara in today’s position nine playoff at 4 pm.
“I wasn’t only coming here to compete for the top eight but also lifting the trophy. I was very disappointed after losing,” said Tarus.
