The head coach of Nigeria Beach Volleyball team, Francis Imoudu has said that enjoying home advantage in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifiers means that Nigeria’s Olympics destiny is firmly in the hands of players and coaches.

The second phase of the Tokyo Olympics beach volleyball qualifiers will take place in Abuja from 4 to 8 March 2020.

Imoudu said the level of preparedness by the team is topnotch adding that some of the best volleyball players are in closed camp.

Francis Imoudu

He assured Nigerians that the women’s team will not disappoint judging by their current ranking as number three in Africa.

“The ticket for Tokyo 2020 Beach Volleyball Olympics is in our hands,” Imoudu said. “Nigeria is hosting the second phase of the qualifiers and this should give us an edge over other countries. We will be banking on the support of the home crowd when the qualifiers begin on the 4th of March”.

“The team has been in camp since last month and the level of preparedness is high. Some of the players who partook in the first phase in Ghana know what is at stake. I want to assure Nigerians that the women’s team will not disappoint judging by our ranking and the kind of players we are parading.”

The battle-hardened coach waved off thoughts that participating teams will pose any threats to his team’s chances adding that the determination of Nigeria to be in Tokyo will see them triumph in the qualifiers.

“No disrespect to the countries attend the qualifiers but they pose little threat to us because we are determined to be in Japan later this year,” he said.

According to the Confederation of Africa Volleyball (CAVB), the participating countries; Zambia, Kenya and Congo are expected to arrive Nigeria on 4 March for the qualifiers which will take place at Jabi Lake, Abuja.

Meanwhile, Togo is expected to replace Cape Verde who have withdrawn from the competition.

The top 2 teams at the qualifiers will book tickets to the Tokyo Olympics.