Battered Kenya sides surely out of World Cup contention
What you need to know:
- Kenya men and women’s hockey teams’ ambitions of qualifying for next year’s World Cup on Monday went up in smoke after they suffered their second successive defeats at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ismailia, Egypt.
- The women’s team suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to arch-rivals Ghana, while their male counterparts went down 4-1 to the hosts at the Suez Canal Authority Hockey Stadium.
- The losses left both teams now having to depend on other results to make it to the final of the competition.
Kenya men and women’s hockey teams’ ambitions of qualifying for next year’s World Cup on Monday went up in smoke after they suffered their second successive defeats at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ismailia, Egypt.
The women’s team suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to arch-rivals Ghana, while their male counterparts went down 4-1 to the hosts at the Suez Canal Authority Hockey Stadium.
The losses left both teams now having to depend on other results to make it to the final of the competition.
Kenya women were first up in the action looking to bounce back from Sunday’s 5-0 loss to champions South Africa.
Coach Wilson Otieno maintained the same starting eleven with Audrey Omaido partnering Gilly Okumu upfront with Yvonne Karanja and Tracy Karanja playing on either wings.
At the back Jane Muragu, Terry Juma and Flavia Mutvia were charged with keeping the Ghanaian attackers at bay. Kenya controlled proceedings and took the lead in the 29th minute through birthday girl Caroline Guchu.
Kenya, who lost to Ghana 1-0 in last year’s World League One Series, let the West Africans back into the game in the final 10 minutes.
First, Serwaa Boakye levelled matters in the 51st minute, finishing off Martha Safoa’s short corner, before Nafisatu Umrau hit the winner from another short corner six minutes to the end.
“We controlled the match for large spells but could not bury our chances and got caught out in the end. It is painful to accept this defeat,” Otieno said.
Kenya have a rest day on Tuesday before taking on Nigeria in third match on Wednesday while Ghana take on Egypt.
South Africa made it two wins on the trot with a 5-0 thrashing of Nigeria.
In the men’s contest, Kenya fell behind in the first four minutes as Ahmed Elnaggar and Amr Elhady fired the hosts to a 2-0 lead. Houssam Ghobran made it 3-0 on 25 minutes but George Mutira pulled one back for Kenya in the 52nd minute.
Substitute Ahemd Gamal restored the hosts’ three goal advantage six minutes to the end to condemn Kenya to their second loss. Kenya lost 3-0 to Ghana in the first match. Men’s champions South Africa hit Nigeria 8-1 in an earlier match.
Kenya take on Nigeria in their match on Wednesday as they bid to win their first match of the tourney.
