Teams from Mozambique and Morocco, benefiting from the Volleyball Empowerment program, showcased strong performances at the recent CAVB U21 Beach Volleyball Continental Championships. The event took place on Martil beach in Tetouan from June 27th to 29th.
Both nations successfully qualified their men`s and women`s Under 21 teams for the upcoming FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships, scheduled for October 16th to 19th in Puebla, Mexico.
Mozambique`s women`s pair, Nadia Bango and Veronica Roque, secured the gold medal. Their male counterparts, Ednilson Jose Tivane and Helton Guvo, earned a silver medal, finishing runners-up to champions Namibia.
Meanwhile, Morocco`s Imane Fakhr and Fatimazahra Bouysfi finished fourth in the women`s competition. The Moroccan men`s duo, Abdellatif and Ilyass, secured a fifth-place finish.
The top five teams in both the men`s and women`s tournaments from this championship will represent the African continent at the U21 World Championships in Puebla this October.
The Mozambican U21 teams receive coaching from Osvaldo Machava and Bernardo Alirio. This support is part of a Volleyball Empowerment Coach Support project for Mozambique valued at 445,000 USD.
Morocco`s teams, covering both senior and U21 levels, benefit from the expertise of Italian coach Ezio Goia. This is facilitated through a separate Volleyball Empowerment Coach Support project for Morocco, totaling 364,000 USD.
In the women`s final, Nadia Bango and Veronica Roque defeated Egypt`s Mariam Saleh and Rawan Abdelmagid in straight sets (21-16, 21-16) to claim the gold medal for Mozambique.
Senegal`s Thiam Dieynaba and Ndior Diouma won the bronze medal play-off against Morocco`s Imane Fakhr and Fatimazahra Bouysfi with a 2-0 victory (21-16, 21-19).
The fifth and final qualification spot in the women`s event was secured by Egypt`s Mariam Abdellatif and Marwa Saleh, who won their play-off match against Nigeria`s Lawrence Blessing and Anebi Blessing 2-0 (21-16, 21-19).
In the men`s competition final, the Namibian brothers Max and Jura Krafft defeated Mozambique`s Ednilson Jose Tivane and Helton Guvo 2-0 (21-15, 21-17), preventing them from taking the gold.
Namibia also claimed the men`s bronze medal. The third-place play-off match between Luca Kesselmann and Fabian Biederlack (Namibia) and Egypt`s Mohamed Elkomy and Abdullah Mahfouz ended prematurely due to an injury sustained by the Egyptian team.
Morocco`s Abdellatif and Ilyass secured their qualification for the World Championships by winning their fifth-place play-off match against Juan Kevin Mbira Abouem and Adji Abdouraman of Cameroon in a close three-set encounter (21-18, 10-21, 15-10).
The championship saw participation from 13 men`s teams representing 8 countries and 11 women`s pairs from 8 nations.
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood