Auteur/autrice : TimesNews2

The President of the Confederation of African Football is in Yaounde, Cameroon for a three-day working visit. Since the arrival of the CAF boss on January 13, 2020, in Yaounde Cameroon, many controversial issues have been brought at the limelight. The visit of Ahmad Ahmad is not greatly welcome. Many argue Ahmad has come to put pressure on Cameroon who continues to lag behind in terms of infrastructures. Others say he is in Cameroon to retrieve the hosting of the most cherished AFCON 2021. According to a press release, the President of the CAF is in the country for a series of crucial meetings with Cameroonian authorities. Ahmad is holding talks with members of the organizing committees of the upcoming CHAN 2020 and the 2021 AFCON to be hosted by Cameroon. It is expected during the visit of Ahmad to have clear indications on the exact date the country will host the African football cup of nations.  Major points on his visit will be unveiled to the press by Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, sports and physical education Minister on January 15.   By TimesNews2  

Team Cameroon lost the challenge against Kenya’s malkia strikers in a tight encounter of more than two hours. The Kenyan girls overpowered the lionesses of Cameroon in a 3sets to 2 (25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 23-25,15-11) giving them the advantage to seal their ticket for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. Christelle Nana and her mates, in spite of all the spikes and blocks, could not win their opponents who made use of better tactical strategies till the tie-break. The girls of Coach Jean René Akono, who at a moment showed signs of fatigue a gave all the best throughout this thrilling and decisive encounter. In the post-match press conference, the team captain of the lionesses admitted they made few mistakes due to lack of experience of some new players and maybe because of stress and pressure. She congratulated the Kenyan side and said they will compete as usual in their last game against Egypt. Mercy Moim, captain of Kenya said the win over Cameroon is more than a celebration for her. It is a historical moment, knowing the tussle they have in common while on the field. Both nations have shown their supremacy in the African continent as underscored by Paul Bitok, head coach of Kenya. Kenya registers 8 points while Cameroon 7. The victory of Cameroon’s team over Egypt on Wednesday 8th January will highly depend on the match between Nigeria and Kenya if the Malkia strikers fail to pick a good number of points on Thursday. By Elise Kenimbeni

Young and talented Iza Cathy Ambassa is one of the discoveries in the 2020 Tokyo Women’s Olympic qualifiers in Yaounde, Cameroon. Iza Cathy Ambassa, 17, is described as one of the most important discoveries of the Cameroonian volleyball federation during the last winter season. In the first game against Botswana, the youngest player of the national squad moved the public through her game full of engagement and passion. Despite the slight mistakes registered during the two matches against Botswana and Nigeria, she has been able to stand firm and show proof of humility through some signs of apologies to her team mates. Joyful in her way of playing, the jersey number 8 of Cameroon’s women volleyball team, has been on several balls without any fear. Her talent and passion for volleyball were more highlighted in the match against Kenya on January 7, 2020. The unstoppable young Libero demonstrated she is worthy of trust by her national coach, Jean René Akono. Ambassa plays with Rhône Alpes, a regional club in France. The 1metre 63 of height and 66 kilogrammes player is presented as one of the best Libero of her generation. According to observers, she is a volleyball player who is gaining strength in the discipline as time passes by. Very young, she became interested in volleyball. She made her junior debut at the age of 12. Her reaction to the playground shows that she is very thoughtful. However, the size of the player with a promising future as a receiving attack shatters the dreams of her supervisors. After much thought, she was converted to Libero. In this position, she panics all records and therefore presents herself as one of the major assets of her team. “Besides being a group leader, she is very attentive. She has a very good reading of the game and the trajectory of the ball”, describes her club’s coach, Cédric Partouche. From a Caledonian mother and a Cameroonian father, her concern, like all champions, lies in her demand for perfection. “When she sets goals, she has no right to fail or to be mean. She is a real warrior,” Cédric Partouche said.    By Elise Kenimbeni

Ahead of the competition, Cameroon has fine-tuned strategies in a bid to secure a place in the upcoming world games. Team Cameroon led by Simon Burchard Menguede has been on camp since November 2019 with 21 players called up for the training session in Yaounde. « In Tunisia, Cameroon will do more better than in 2018 in Gabon where she was eliminated in the first phase of the competition. And during our intense preparations, we had as main objective to accentuate efforts in order to have our qualification ticket for the world men’s handball competition in 2021 » said the national team’s coach, Simon Burchard Menguede in an interview. The Lions of handball expected on the Tunisian soils on the 7th of January will challenge in group C, host nation and titleholder, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Cape Verde. In group A; Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, and Kenya. Group B is made up of; Angola, Gabon, Nigeria, and Libya while in group D we find Morroco, Algeria, Congo, Senegal, and Zambia. For the first time, 17 nations are taking part in the competition which mostly regrouped 10 to 12 teams. The 24th edition of the championship takes place from January 16 to 26, 2020 in Rades and Hammamet in Tunisia. This competition acts as the 2020 African qualifying tournament for the 2020 summer Olympic games in Tokyo, Japan, and the 2021 World Men’s handball championship to be hosted by Egypt. By Elise Kenimbeni  

The volleyball lionesses of Cameroon have defeated visiting Nigeria in a three sets to nil score in their second outing on January 6, 2020. Reigning African champion has shown its supremacy on their Nigerian opponents by winning 3sets to 0 (25-12,25-10,25-8). According to Christelle Nana Tchoudjang, team captain of the lionesses, they have been playing as usual with a lot of rigour from the beginning to the end and did not give root to their adversaries to gain confidence in them. « We don’t minimize our adversaries. All our matches are taken on serious notes with the aim to win. We know tomorrow it will be a difficult match but we will be out for a new victory and we shall play with all the energy necessary to challenge Kenya» she said. Nigeria’s head coach on his part acknowledged his team still has some flaws in terms of experience in international competitions. Samuel Ajayi, at the end of the match press conference, said; many of his girls are still students and young players with little experience in international championships contrary to Cameroon, Egypt and Kenya. He said the team came for ‘exposure’. The head coach, however, remains positive after their first game in the ongoing Tokyo Olympic games qualifiers in Yaounde, Cameroon. Nigeria will face Egypt in their second outing on January 7, 2020, at 4 pm meanwhile at 7 pm host country plays against Kenya in a high awaited duel. In the first game played on the 6th of January, the Kenyan team won Botswana 3 sets to 0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-18) making a clean record so far.   By Elise Kenimbeni

Host country, Cameroon defeated Botswana 3 sets to 0 in their first outing game on January 5, 2020 in Yaounde. The lionesses of volleyball, in the first set won 25 points to 17, in the second set, they took a large lead of 25 to 4 and the third set 27 to 25. Cameroon’s lionesses made a 9-0 run (with Christelle Nana Tchoudjang  serving), from 5-3 and another 11-0 run (with Berthrade Bikatal serving) from 13-4 in the second. Africa’s title holder led by coach, Jean René Akono is determined to grab the qualification ticket as it was the case in 2016. In their second game, team Cameroon will face Nigeria on Monday 6th January 2020 while Botswana will meet with Kenya. Earlier in this competition, the opening game put neck on neck, Kenya and Egypt. Kenya won Egypt 3sets to 1(23-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-22). The two teams described as favourites in the competition moved the public with their game. Cameroon and Kenya hold a 1-2 win ration from 2019. Kenya beat Cameroon at the World Championships in Japan and at the Africa Games in Morocco. However, Cameroon beat Kenya to retain the Africa Cup of Nations in July 2019. The Africa Olympic qualifiers in Cameroon puts on scene five teams: the host-Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and Botswana. Only the winner of the round-robin contest will seal the ticket to Tokyo in Japan.   By Elise Kenimbeni

La sélection nationale de handball masculin achève sa troisième phase de préparation en vue de la 24e Coupe d’Afrique des nations de handball masculin , Tunisie 2020 prévue du 16 au 26 janvier à Hammamet à Radès. Les Lions du handball quitteront le Cameroun ce week-end pour un stage d’acclimatation en Tunisie, en attendant la compétition. Le Cameroun a été tiré au sort dans le groupe C, celui de la Tunisie , pays hôte, champion en titre et dix fois tenant du titre de champion de la catégorie. Le Cameroun partagera également son groupe avec la Côte d’Ivoire et le Cap Vert. Le vainqueur de cette CAN sera qualifié pour les Jeux olympiques, Tokyo 2020 .Six pays seront qualifiés pour le 27e championnat du monde de handball masculin, Egypte 2021. Une séance d’entraînement est prévue ce vendredi 03 janvier 2020 au complexe sportif de la Garde présidentielle à partir de 15heures. Fecahand

The organizing comittee of the Cameroon sports awards made the announcement on December 26, 2019 in Yaounde.   During a press conferennce held in Yaounde, Cameroon, members of the organizing comittee granted some highlights on the second edition of the Cameroon sports awards formely known as CAEM awards. For the second edition, 21 categories will feature on the awards’ chart instead of 45 like the previous year(2018). The voting process closed last December 24 on social media like facebook, accounts for 30 percent while 70 percent of the other credits are awarded by the members of the scientific comittee. The President of the organizing comittee outlined the major innovations of the event scheduled for Sunday 29th December 2019 at the conference center in Yaounde. Joseph Patrick Balla said: « We have decided to group athletes, footballers, journalists, consultants etc. depending on their various disciplines or activities. And this year as main innovation, we have professional and amateur football, producers of sports’ programmes on competition ». « The Cameroon sports awards is out to recognize and celebrate our talents in the country. We are the first sponsor of our event. Accomodations of all the nominees are part of our budget. We therefore rely on the press to help us work on the situation of the laureates who for now just receive symbolic trophees with no financial stipend at the end» said the organizing comittee members. It was disclosed that, the national insurance fund is the main partner of the event. The National Insurance Fund has decided to accompany the Cameroon sports awards to better make understand to the public its social programmes and by the way celebrate sports talents, as underscored during discussions with media practitioners. Ahead of the gala night, two matches will be played on the 28th December, in memory of late Ghislaine Bebom, God mother of the Cameroon sports awards, who passed away in June 2019. A team of professional footballers, the Cameroon association of sports journalists, the national insurance fund and the organizing comittee will take part in this game.   By Elise Kenimbeni