Bullish Wafalme Stars dare home team Ghana

Wafalme Stars players celebrate a point

Wafalme Stars players celebrate a point during their African Games Zone Five qualifier against Burundi in Cairo, Egypt on January 27, 2024. 

Photo credit: Pool

What you need to know:

  • Kenya's Wafalme Wednesday dismissed Chad 3-0 to show their intentions
  • This will be the third encounter between Ghana and Kenya in recent years
  • The two sides last met during the Africa Championship last year where Kenya overpowered the West Africans 3-0 in the group stage

Kenya captain and setter Brian Melly has declared they are unstoppable as they seek to go past hosts Ghana in their second African Games men's volleyball Pool " A" match at the Multipurpose Hall in Accra, Ghana on Friday.

Kenya's Wafalme Wednesday dismissed Chad 3-0 to show their intentions. They will face Gambia in their final pool match on Sunday.

"We are keen to build on Wednesday's win against Chad.The players here are positive and optimistic that we will carry the day.Most of the players who are here were part of team that beat Ghana last year and I don't see anything changing but we have to wait and see," said Melly, who is making a debut at the Games.

Added the General Service Unit man: "Everything worked for us during the match against Chad and we want to carry the same spirit when we play Ghana tomorrow."

This will be the third encounter between Ghana and Kenya in recent years. The two sides last met during the Africa Championship last year where Kenya overpowered the West Africans 3-0 in the group stage.

Fast-rising middle blocker Brian Kamonde, who is also making his debut at the Games, said they are keen to win the remaining matches to top the pool and have an easier path to the final.

"Our focus is to top in our pool so that we can have an easy path…it is possible…we are hoping for a good finish in this competition. Ghana is a good team and they have a home advantage…we played them in the last African Championship in Egypt and beat them 3-0 and 3-2, so I don't see anything stopping us. The players here are in their top form and we are expecting a good performance in tomorrow's match and eventually we will have a better ending," said Kamonde, who plays for Kenya Ports Authority in the local League.

"The African Games are so unique because all the teams in every pool are strong in their own way. We didn’t expect Chad to be that good but they exhibited a good game. In recent competitions we’ve been landing in a tough pool where we start with tricky matches but now in this competition, matches are becoming gradually tough. It’s a good way to start because we are able to analyse our matches and make improvements where necessary," he added.

Wafalme last participated in the Games in 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique where they won a bronze medal.

On Wednesday, Egypt defeated Nigeria 3-1, Ghana overpowered Gambia 3-0 while Cameroon saw off Burkina Faso 3-0.

Friday fixtures

Burkina Faso v Nigeria 1pm

Chad v Gambia 3pm

Cameroon v Egypt 5pm

Kenya v Ghana 7pm