Sports

World Volleyball Championships: Cameroon face holders, Serbia, today in crunch second group game.

by Chinje Hopeson
25 Aug 2025 17:29
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Cameroon needs to beat Serbia to maintain its chances of qualifying for the second round

Cameroon will challenge defending champions, Serbia, today in its second Group H match at the ongoing 2025 Women’s World Volleyball Championships in Thailand.
The Volleyball Lionesses’ showdown with the global powerhouse will be held at the Indoor Arena Huamark in Bangkok. The match will tipoff at 5:30p.m. Cameroon, 11:30p.m. in Thailand.

The game is a must-win for Cameroon following the difficult start that the three-time African champions registered in the tournament.

Cameroon suffered a heartbreaking 3-0 sets loss to three-time competition winners Japan last Saturday in their opening match after losing 25-21, 25-17 and 25-19 across the three sets.

Team captain Estelle Adiana and her teammates will need to defeat Serbia to consolidate Cameroon’s already slim chances of sailing through to the second round of the 32-nation showpiece.

The Volleyball Lionesses who are in their fifth participation in the World Championships are presently ranked rock-bottom of the Group H standing, facing the risk of getting booted out in the group phase for the fifth successive time.

Serbia fixture tough challenge for Cameroon

Cameroon has faced Serbia only once in the final phase of the World Championships. The two teams clashed in September 2014 during the 2024 edition of the championships.

The match ended in a 3-0 sets victory for the European who secured hard-earned 17-25, 13-25 and 24-26points wins across the first, second and third sets of the match.

Despite the brilliant showing that Cameroon displayed against the Serbians 11 years ago, the European team is still being regarded as a highly challenging outfit for the Volleyball Lionesses. This is owing to the rich profile that the European nation has built over the last decade.

The team won the last two editions of the World Championships after triumphing in the 2018 series in Japan and the 2022 edition of the competition which was co-hosted by the Netherlands and Poland.

The Serbians claimed bronze and silver medals in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo respectively.

The side equally emerged as champions of Europe twice in the last 14 years with the latest being the winner’s crown they secured in 2019.

Cameroon was eliminated in the group stages of the World Championships as debutants in 2006. The team registered similar results in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

In 2022, the side was ranked rock-bottom 24th after registering a nightmarish campaign in the tournament where it lost all its five group matches.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3544 of Monday August 25, 2025