Egypt have clinched their first win at the FIVB Volleyball World Cup in Japan, beating Tunisia 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11) on Monday.
"I’m very happy that we won today. It was a tough day but a happy one because we got a victory after eight losses," Pharaohs captain Ahmed Salah Abdel-Hay said after the match.
Abdel-Hay was man of the match, starting 35 attacks and serving 3 aces. He remains the tournament's top scorer with 202 points.
"But I’m also happy we were able to defeat Tunisia as we will face them in the Olympic qualifiers, so that was a good success for us," Abdel-Hay added.
With this victory, Egypt moved up to 10th in the World Cup rankings with five points from this victory and three losses while Tunisia are bottom of the twelve teams with two points from two defeats.
"It was a difficult day. After eight losses, it’s hard to get the team into a good condition. The most important thing is we won and got two points, and the team were able to get out of their misery," said Egypt coach Nehad Shehata.
Egypt have been hoping to move up to being eighth in the world rankings after this tournament. Their best ever position was in 2009 when they finished 9th.
"I congratulate Tunisia, who also played a good match. The win is also important for the Olympic qualifiers. I hope my team can play like this in the next two matches; that will help us make good progress," Shehata added.
The two teams are the leaders of African volleyball. Each have won the continental championship eight times, but Egypt has won the last six editions on the trot.
"It’s always difficult when we play Egypt; they are big rivals for us. We tried to prepare as much as possible but it’s a shame about the outcome," Tunisia coach Fathi Mkaouar reacted.
Egypt will be competing against Venezuela on Tuesday before they end the tournament playing Iran on Wednesday.
