Mulinge sticks with winning team for Olympic qualifiers

National women’s beach volleyball team coach Sammy Mulinge has retained the squad that qualified for the second round of Tokyo Olympics qualifiers ahead of the March 4 to 9 event at Jabi Lake Beach in Abuja, Nigeria.

Kenya will face Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and hosts Nigeria for the two slots to the final round.

Mulinge has kept faith in the pairs of Brackcides Agala/Gaudencia Makokha and Phoscah Kasisi/Yvonne Wavinya who finished second behind eventual winners Rwanda during the first round of qualifiers that was staged in Tanzania in January.

However, newcomers Maureen Wekesa and Veronica Adhiambo both from Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) who replaced Betty Sifuna (Kenya Pipeline) and Mildred Cherop (KCB) were overlooked.

Sifuna and Cherop were not released by their respective clubs.

The team finished residential training at Flamingo Beach Hotel in Mombasa last Sunday and are scheduled to leave for Nigeria on Wednesday.

On their way to qualifying for the second phase, the pair of Makokha and Agala beat Rwanda’s Team Two of Judith Hakizimana and Seraphine Mukantembara 2-1 (22-20,18-21, 15-8) while the duo of Kasisi and Wavinya lost 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) to Rwanda’s Charlotte Nzayisenga and Valentine Munezero.

Makokha and Agala then silenced hosts Tanzania B comprised of Kulwa Asedy and Nasra Msuya 2-0 (21-7, 21-4) before seeing off Uganda's pair Kauthar Kagoya and Juania Nabbuto 2-0 (21-7,22-20) as Kasisi and Wavinya beat Uganda B made of Sadat Nnungi and Peace Busingye 2-1 (17-21,21-9,15-7).

Despite dropping Wekesa and Adhiambo, Mulinge was impressed with the duo who he tipped to feature in future assignments.

“It’s sad that clubs don’t accord the sport the seriousness it deserves. On many occasions they have failed to release players the beach commission had requested. Instead, they release players deemed surplus in their team and that proves how they look down upon the sport,” bemoaned Mulinge.

“Just like indoor volleyball, beach volleyball requires a large pool of players to select from and it’s sad we have not been receiving the much-needed support from the clubs. But I have confidence in the team that will compete in the qualifiers and we hope to be among the two teams that will proceed to the last round,” he added.

Meanwhile, the men’s team started training on Monday at Flamingo Beach Hotel in Mombasa ahead of their April 12 to 16 event in Banjul, in Gambia.

The men’s team under the guidance of Patrick Owino also finished second behind winners Tanzania last year in the first round qualifiers held in Entebbe, Uganda.

The East Africans are drawn alongside hosts Gambia, Mauritius, Botswana and South Sudan.

Experienced trio of Ibrahim Odour (Prisons), James Mwaniki (Kenya Ports Authority) and Donald Mchete from Mombasa Prisons form part of the men’s team.

Others are Enock Mogeni (Kenya Ports Authority), Wilfred Kimutai (Strathmore University), Brian Melly and Cornelius Lagat from General Service Unit and Oman-based Evans Bera.