26 Mar 2017

 Police VI has bowed out of the African Clubs Championships after losing four matches in Pool C to finish last in their group.
The loss has marked the end of the road for the 2016 Zone 6 champions. Police VI faced stiff competition especially from Arab teams which boast experience and were regulars at the Olympic Games.
The eight teams which have qualified for the quarter finals are Ahly from Egypt, Esperance Tunisia, Alswehly Libya, FAP Cameroon, Bordj Algeria, Assarya Libya, Sahel Tunisia and Prisons from Kenya.
In Pool C, Police played against Dounanes from Burkina Faso, University of Kibongo from Rwanda, Assarya from Libya and Bordj from Algeria.
Their pool was the only group comprising five teams while Pool A to D had only four teams each. The fact that Police VI occupies fifth place in Pool C and having lost all the four matches automatically disqualifies them to contend for positions.
In their last two matches Police VI failed to impress with a score line of 3-0 when they were playing against Assarya from Libya while they lost 3-0 to Bordijfrom Algeria.
Police VI coach, Thatayaone Ngwanaotsile confirmed in an interview that they have lost all the games and “it is end of the journey for us.”
He however said the competitions were any eye opener as they have learnt something from the competitions.
“I expect an improvement from my guys when we get back home,” he said.
He also stressed that the standard was high for them as they were playing against teams which had competed in the tournament more than twice.
Meanwhile, Police VI setter Tjiyapo Madeluka said the team and management had learnt a lot and would add Arab teams to their contact base to facilitate friendly games.
“We have realised that our zone is far below standard in volleyball,” he said, explaining that even though they have lost all games they would stay in Tunisia until the last day of the tournament.
He said they would be watching and analysing the rest of the games during the tournament, as their aim was to win the zone 6 competitions again and come back to the African Club Championships a better team.
On lessons learnt, Madeluka said that there was much work to be done for their zone.
He emphasised that if they could host competitions of this magnitude frequently then the sport could improve within the zone.
Unlike other teams which were regulars at the championships, the last time a Botswana men team qualified for the championships was Kutlwano in 2010 and it took another six years for another local team to qualify for the prestigious event.
The Africa Clubs Championships end today and Police VI is expected to arrive home on Wednesday 29. ENDS