Cairo, Egypt, March 16, 2005 - Egyptian coach Hesham Badrawy was greeted with good news on Wednesday with the declaration that two of his star players Neamat Abdelmonem and Sherihan Sameh are both fit and will be able to play in the 2006 World Championship first round tournament (Africa Pool A) which will be held in Cairo from March 17-19.

Badrawy held off naming his squad until just before the tournament technical meeting, which was held on Wednesday in Cairo, until a medical report was completed.

The experienced Abdelmonem was injured three days prior to tournament during a training session while Sameh, an up and coming promising player, was injured on Tuesday.
Pic: CAVB President Dr. Amr M. Elwani interviewed by Egyptian TV after the technical meeting at the 2006 World Championship first round tournament (Africa Pool A)
The Egyptian squad includes Tahany Toson, the captain who joined the team after returning from a Volleyball course in Germany, Abdelmonem, Yosra Abdelkarem, Nagwa Foad, Sara Talaat, Dina Assal, Miral Abdelkader, as well as three players from the Egyptian U-20 squad, which qualified for the 2005 World Championship; Sameh, Injy Hamdy and Noha Mahmoud. Three players from the U-18 national team, which also claimed a spot in the 2005 U-18 World Championship, have also been included, namely Hagar Badr Eldeen, Marwa Yassin and Mennat Allah.

The other three teams competing for the first African ticket to the 2006 World Championship final round in Japan - Nigeria, South Africa and Botswana – all attended the technical meeting on Wednesday.

The Egyptian satellite channel carried plenty of news about the competition and interviewed CAVB president, Dr. Amr Elwani who expressed his gratitude during the technical meeting to all the attending delegations for their sporting spirit. South African TV has also negotiated the possibility to broadcast the tournament.

By Tarek Al-Adwar, CAVB Press Officer.