Kenya advance to next phase of Olympics qualifiers

Kenya men’s beach volleyball team qualified for the next round of the Olympic qualifiers after beating hosts Uganda 2-0 in their last match of the zonal qualifiers at the Lido Beach in Entebbe, Uganda on Saturday.

Kenya had succumbed to much-improved Tanzania 15-12 in the golden set after both nations tied on 1-1 games on Friday.

The pair of Brian Melly and Cornelius Kiplagat, who had lost to Tanzania pair of David Neeke and Edward Ford, recovered to win against the Ugandan pair of Amon Ainebyona and Emmanuel Elanyu 2-0 (21-19, 21-13).

The experienced pair of Ibrahim Oduor and James Mwaniki, who had won against Tanzania's Ally Shukukuru and Alhaji Said but faltered during the golden set, won against the pair of Mark Okurut and Emmanuel Kato 2-0 (21-12, 21-10) in the other match.

The result saw Kenya finish second behind the winners Tanzania and the two nations will participate in the second round at a yet to be decided venue.

Sudan and Uganda finished third and fourth respectively.

Team coach Sammy Mulinge said their aim was to first qualify for the second phase and then see what happens from there.

Mulinge observed that the team will have to work on sport movements, cover and communication as well as mental strength ahead of the next round.

“We are happy we have achieved our goal. However, our teams need more training to catch up with the techniques. We had little time to train prior to the zonal qualifiers but ahead of the next phase, we have adequate I’m confident we shall work on our main undoing weaknesses,” said Mulinge.

“I thank the federation for giving us the opportunity to participate in event. The teams had been out of the competition for a while now and it’s a good starting point for our long term plan for beach volleyball in Kenya."

"Melly is coming up pretty well and I believe with an elaborate elite youth program, our future is secure. We therefore urge the government to facilitate our program adequately.”