NAIROBI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- This year's women volleyball Africa Cup of Nations will only have nine teams after Tunisia, Ghana, Libya, Rwanda, Chad and Nigeria failed to confirm their participation.
The week-long tournament will be staged in Cairo, Egypt from Tuesday to July 14.
The Confederation of Africa Volleyball (CAVB) Press Officer Tarek Al-Adwar said on Monday that only nine women teams were registered to participate at the 2019 Women's African nations due to start in Cairo on Tuesday.
"We will have the drawing of lots for the prestigious African competition done on Monday in presence of defending champions Cameroon, record holders with nine titles Kenya, hosts Egypt who have 3 cups to their name," said Al-Adwar on Monday.
Alongside the three women volleyball giants, the other expected teams are Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Botswana, DR Congo and Lesotho.
The Kenya team arrived in Cairo on Saturday hoping the tournament will kick off on Sunday, but the organizers pushed the event back to Tuesday.
Head coach Shailen Ramdoo says he is impressed with his team's progress since he took over in May.
The Italian coach is keen to use the tournament as a gauge for his side ahead of next month's Intercontinental Olympic qualifying tournament, which will be held in Rome from Aug. 2-4.
Italy, who finished second at the World Championships, the Netherlands and Belgium are up against minnows Kenya in battle for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic slot.
"We have been in Cairo for three days and the players have done well in training despite the high temperatures. We are working on the speed of our game and we hope to get them in rhythm before our first match," said Ramdoo on Monday.
After the Africa Cup of Nations and the Olympic qualifiers, Kenya will still have to prove its mantle at the World Cup in Japan. Kenya and Cameroon have been picked for the World Cup set for September 14 to 29 owing to their high rankings by the global volleyball governing body FIVB.
Participating teams at the World Cup are hosts Japan, Cameroon, Serbia, China, South Korea, Russia, Netherlands, USA, Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Argentina.
