Young Kenya squad comes of age

National volleyball women’s team players celebrate winning gold in the 2015 African Games following their victory over Cameroon in the final in Brazzaville on September 14, 2015. The triumphant national women’s team junior players are now urging the Kenya Volleyball Federation to consider selecting them for the forthcoming Olympic Games qualifiers. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  David Kwalimwa

Sports Reporter, Nation Media Group.

What you need to know:

  • The squad dubbed Malkia Strikers Congo made the suggestion after returning home from Brazzaville on Tuesday night to a hero’s welcome.
  • The team defeated bigwigs Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria, on the way to winning the African Games title.

Fresh from winning Kenya’s first African Games Volleyball title since 1999, the triumphant national women’s team junior players are now urging the Kenya Volleyball Federation to consider selecting them for the forthcoming Olympic Games qualifiers and other senior events.

The squad dubbed Malkia Strikers Congo made the suggestion after returning home from Brazzaville on Tuesday night to a hero’s welcome.

“We will not disappoint if selected for the Olympic qualifiers,” Lydia Chepkosgei, who captained the team in Brazzaville, said with her gold medal hanging loosely around her neck.

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TOUGHEST MATCH
This declaration is set to heighten the competition for places in the team, considering that the senior players, who were on duty at the FIVB World Cup in Japan, will be available and eager to keep their places.

The team defeated bigwigs Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria, on the way to winning the African Games title.

“The match against Egypt in the semis was the toughest,” youngster Edith Wisa, who completed High School two years ago, reflected.

“It is now back to college for me but I will be hoping for a call up to the national team again,” the centre player, who has since been recruited into the Kenya Prisons Service, said.

OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
Wisa, alongside Chepkosgei, Kwanthanze High School alumnus Ann Lowen, Violet Makuto and veteran Esther Mwombe were some of the outstanding players in Congo.

Meanwhile, KVF chairman Waithaka Kioni announced Thursday that Kenya had placed a bid to host the forthcoming Olympic Games qualifiers in December.

The Malkia Strikers will battle it out against the usual opponents Senegal, Cameroon, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria for the sole berth reserved for an African team at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games next year.

Besides the African Games triumph, the Malkia Strikers have also won the continental title and the Group Three FIVB Grand Prix gong this year.

Kenya also won the African Games women’s title in Johannersburg 1999, Harare 1995 and Cairo 1991.

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