Confident Kenya now eye FIVB GP play-off spot
Kenya’s Elizabeth Wanyama during their FIVB World Championships women’s qualifier against Mozambique at Safaricom Gymnasium Kasarani. A win against Burundi Friday and Uganda Saturday will see Kenya qualify first in the zone for their eighth straight finals since 1987. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU
What you need to know:
- Kenya will play each of the three teams in that order in consecutive days starting Friday.
- The squad had earlier negotiated an 11 hour flight from Mexico into the Germany Capital Munich, before boarding a connecting hour-long flight to the Croatian capital Zagreb, then shuttling through a three-hour long bus ride to Porec.
IN POREC, CROATIA
The national women volleyball team checked into the Hotel Laguna Albatros in Porec, Croatia on Tuesday evening after completing a gruelling 20-hour journey from Mexico City.
The team is here to compete in the second and final leg of this year’s FIVB Grand Prix and has been pooled alongside the host nation, Bulgaria and Australia.
Kenya will play each of the three teams in that order in consecutive days starting Friday.
“We are ranked higher that all the teams here (according to the FIVB rankings) but that doesn’t imply we will take the opposition lightly. We are prepared for all the challenges and the whole team is eyeing nothing short of qualification to the play-offs,” team manager David Kilundo told Nation Sport in Porec.
SUCCESSFUL DEBUT
Kenya had earlier bid farewell to Mexico City after a successful debut in the opening leg of the Grand Prix competition after winning two of the three games against Algeria and the host nation.
“We are eager to do well and make up for the disappointment of missing out on qualification to the World Championships” team Captain Brackides Agala added. The squad had earlier negotiated an 11 hour flight from Mexico into the Germany Capital Munich, before boarding a connecting hour-long flight to the Croatian capital Zagreb, then shuttling through a three-hour long bus ride to Porec.
Coach David Lung’aho took the team through their first drill in Croatia yesterday morning.
Libero Elizabeth Wanyama has meanwhile said the whole squad is proud of its performance at the opening leg of the FIVB Grand Prix that concluded in Mexico City on Sunday.
Kenya wound up her debut at the opening leg of the global competition with two wins out of three, against hosts Mexico and Algeria, coupled with a slim defeat at the hands of Bulgaria last week.
“We have done our bit and proved our worth. Each and every player gave hundred percent or probably more because we wanted to prove a point at this stage and against this calibre of opposition” the Kenya Prisons player said.
