MASERU — Redskins volleyball club arrived in the country on Monday with their tails tucked between their legs after being thrashed at the African Volleyball Championships in Cairo, Egypt.
Redskins lost all their group stage matches to Egypt, Rwanda and Sudan during the tournament which ran from April 28 to May 7.
The locals were however given a chance to play three play-off games to determine their position in the tournament after falling to 0-3 to all three opponents.
But they started on a low note losing the first match to Kenya before winning its last two matches against Burundi and Sudan.
The last two wins landed Redskins on 13th position in the 16-team tournament.
In total, they played six games, lost four and won the remaining two.
The last two wins against Sudan and Burundi however restored Lesotho’s pride given that Redskins were the only newcomers at the tournament.
“We played well given the level of the tournament and the teams that we were competing against,” Redskins captain Moholo Lekomola told the Lesotho Times on Tuesday.
Lekomola said finishing 13th at the tournament was an achievement because “all the 15 teams competing were regulars and only Lesotho was a newcomer.”
“Beating two regulars and ending up on 13th position was an achievement for us,” he said.
Many factors contributed to Lesotho’s dismal performance.
“There are many factors that contributed to our performance. Firstly, the players we were competing against were very tall, between 1.9 to 2.3 metres.
“Our two tallest players are 1.88m and the rest are shorter than that.
“Secondly, the level of competition was just too high for us as Lesotho has never been in a tournament like this. You can say that was a World Cup where newcomers normally have stage-fright.
