Nairobi Water storm Africa Club Championships quarters

What you need to know:

  • The Kenyan side finished fourth in Group B to secure the final slot from the pool which has five teams.
  • Wednesday is a rest day for all teams with the knockout stage set for Thursday.

Handball champions Nairobi Water are through to the quarter-finals of the ongoing Africa Women’s Club Championship despite losing 38-26 to Asel of Congo Brazzaville on Monday night at Palais des Sports in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The Kenyan side finished fourth in Group B to secure the final slot from the pool which has five teams.

Four teams from the two groups in the competition advanced to the last eight.

Nairobi Water beat Ivory Coast's Bandama 26-24 on Sunday to secure their only win in the pool.

They lost their opening two matches at the 38th edition of the annual competition. The three-time national champions lost 31-22 to TKC of Cameroon in their opening match last Friday before they were thrashed 40-19 by champions Primero from Angola on Saturday night.

In Monday's encounter, the Jack Ochieng-led side started brightly with forwards Brenda Ariviza and Judy Aungo causing trouble for the Asel defence with their good linkup.

The duo gave the Kenyan side a 7-6 lead in the opening quarter but their opponents found their way back to lead 25-11 at the break.

Asel dominated proceedings in the second half as the Nairobi Water defence crumbled to allow the Congolese side to cruise to a comfortable win.
Ariviza scored 10 points for Water.

Coach Ochieng noted that his charges will need to tighten up at the back and also improve in their finishing if they intend to go far in the competition.

"Our first target was to ensure we get out of our group and we have successfully done this. We now need to work on our mistakes so that we can have a flawless performance in the quarter-final," Ochieng told Daily Nation Sport.

Nairobi Water will take on either Cameroon's FAP or MIKISH from Democratic Republic of Congo in the quarter-finals on Thursday. The two teams were due to face off Tuesday night in their Group A duel.

In another group B match, champions Primero ran out 44-18 winners over Bandama to top the pool with eight points. Asel finished second with six points while TKC are third.

Wednesday is a rest day for all teams with the knockout stage set for Thursday.