By: Pa Barrow
The sensational pair of Mario Dampha and Laity Nyabally has grabbed gold medals and triumphed on top of the podium at the CAVB 2023 edition of the Africa Beach Volleyball Championships following a comfortable set win over Mozambique with a score of 21-14, 22 -18 to be crowned as the gold medalist in the championship held in Casablanca.
Team Gambia earlier won straight sets (2-0) in the semi-final against one of the tournament’s favorites, Egypt, to book their place in the final, claiming more superiority against their opponents, Mozambique, in a comfortable victory.
“This is a great achievement for the players and the country’s volleyball because this is exactly what we wanted from the get-go. As a team, we made it clear that we did not come here to participate but instead to compete with the top countries regarding beach volleyball. Being the champions of Africa at the U-21 level is a great achievement,” head coach of the Gambia U-21 beach volleyball team Pa Baboucarr Barrow told Alkamba Times in an exclusive interview.
“Everyone is happy as a country because the players have done an amazing job throughout the championship, and I am hopeful this will be a continuity,” he added.
Earlier in the championship, the Gambia women’s team in the pair of Ann Marie Bojang and Fatoumata Ceesay, also beat the Morocco women’s team 2-nil in the bronze medal match to claim the bronze medal as the third-best team in the female category of 2023 CAVB U-21 volleyball championship held in Morocco.
