Cairo, Egypt, January 9, 2020 - Tunisian setter Khaled Ben Slimane says qualification for the Olympic Games is a dream for all athletes whatever the sport and believes the teams at the African qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 all have a chance of claiming the Olympic berth. After defeating Cameroon on Wednesday, Tunisia take on Egypt on Thursday and Algeria on Friday.
"The Olympic Games are a big dream for me and my teammates. The last time Tunisia was there was in Athens 2004. I was only 10 years old. At that time I was thinking of the day when I could play in the biggest event in the world," said Ben Slimane.
"Now dreams can come true as we progress in this event. Usually the first game in big tournaments is very difficult, but now we are in a good situation after beating giants Cameroon in straight sets. Our game in the final of the 2019 African Nations Championship was very difficult and emotional, but this match here in Cairo was even more because in the African Nations we had the chance to recover if we lost a game at the beginning, but here it is difficult to compensate.
"Our strategy depends on using our serves to disturb the opponents. It is the first weapon in the game and I think we succeeded in applying this strategy again the Lions."
"Facing Egypt is usually difficult because Egypt and Tunisia are the traditional African derby. You can't predict the winner, but we guarantee a fantastic game as usual," he added.