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Namibian women's beach volleyball gun for Olympic ticket

Xinhua, March 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Namibian beach volleyball aces are just one step away from representing the country at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The last obstacle to overcome for the Namibian teams, comprising of Julia Laggner and Kim Seebach as well as Rosi Hennes and Stephanie Palmhert, is the final stage of the African qualifiers scheduled for April 13 to 18 in Abuja, Nigeria.

Namibia's national coach James Verrinder said on Friday the two teams have been hard at work ever since last year.

"After pushing through the second qualification round in Egypt, both pairs trained up five times a week on court while specialised conditioning training at FX Fitness and nutrition plans by Dorle Verrinder gave them even more of a cutting edge," he added.

The final round of the qualifiers will see 12 African nations featuring the continental showdown, including powerhouses like Egypt and Rwanda, vying to secure their tickets for Brazil.

Verrinder explained that the format of play is yet to be decided but it is most likely that two groups of six teams each will be formed. In the group stage, the two teams of each country face off against each other in four games. Therefore one nation needs three wins to make it through. Endit