Prisons, GSU eat humble pie

Kenyan teams once again failed to match the might of their North African counterparts as General Service Unit (GSU) and Kenya Prisons crashed out of the ongoing CAVB African Men Club Championship in Cairo, Egypt on Monday night.

GSU lost by 3-1 against favourites and defending champions Al Ahly of Egypt at Ahly Club Hall while Prisons were thrashed 3-0 by El Guish, also of Egypt.

Al-Ahly easily claimed the first two sets winning 25-12, 25-15 before the paramilitary side staged a comeback in the third set winning 28-26 to make it 2-1 but the experienced Egyptian side killed the tie with a 25-10 win in the fourth set to keep their quest of retaining their title.

Despite bowing out, this is the first time GSU who dislodged Prisons to reclaim the local league in 2017 made it to the last eight.

In the other last eight tie pitting 2011 silver medalists Prisons and El Guish of Egypt, the Kenyans could not match the stellar performance from their opponents losing in sets of 25-18,25-16 and 25-10. The Paul Muthinja led side, alongside GSU are among the teams that will fight it out for a fifth finish place in the play-offs set for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Swehly of Liberia saw off fellow countrymen Ahly Benghazi 3-1 to book a last-four berth against champions Ahly while Smouha, also of Egypt, thrashed Aviation 3-2 to sail through and now will familiar opponent El Guish in the semis.

With the North Africans having cruised through to the semis in large numbers, this year’s edition which attracted a record of 24 teams, will most likely be won by a North African team, with an Egyptian club a firm favourite.

For Kenya, it’s perhaps a wakeup call to correct the wrongs if continental glory is to be attained once again.