Seychellois volleyball club wins opening match at club championship in Egypt

Swim Blue's captain Ian Furneau in action during the Zone 7 competition in Seychelles earlier this year. (Jude Morel) 

(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles’ volleyball club Swim Blue Pals won their opening match against DGSP from Congo, Brazzaville on Tuesday in the 2018 Men's African Club Championship in Egypt.

Swim Blue defeated the more experienced Congolese side 3-1 with a set score of 25-20, 23-25, 25-13, 25-17 in their first Pool B match.

The Seychellois side will be back in action on Wednesday afternoon against Egyptian side Aviation at 3 p.m. Seychelles time.

This is Swim Blue’s first competition on the African mainland, and French coach Olivier Sauer had said that the competition will be tough as the top African countries will be participating.

“For us, it will be a new experience and we know it’s going to be tough but we have a great team and we will be giving our very best. I hope we can have the same rhythm we did for the Zone 7 competition,” Sauer had told SNA.

The Seychellois side booked a place in the competition in Egypt after winning the championship for Zone 7 at home earlier this month. In the final, Swim Blue defeated the reigning champion Gendarmerie of Madagascar 3-0.

Swim Blue will be playing three other matches this week. On Thursday, the team will play against Finances from Benin at 11 a.m., on Friday -- Swehly from Libya at 5 p.m. and on Saturday, Bafia from Cameroun at 2 p.m.

Two dozen teams are participating in the prestigious competition organised by the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB). They have been divided into four preliminary pools and the top two of each pool will move to the knockout stage until the final.