Africa Beach Games: Handball team secures Kenya first medal in championships

Kenya claimed its first medal in the ongoing Africa Beach Games in Hammamet, Tunisia after the women’s handball team suffered a 3-1 shoot-outs final loss to the hosts -Tunisia - on Monday afternoon.

The defeat - which came after both sides had tied 1-1 inside the regulation sets - was the only defeat the side suffered in the championships, and the second defeat to Tunisia in a span of days - the North Africans getting one over Kenya in the Global Tour played just a few days before the Beach Games started.

Drawing their experiences from 2019, Kenya, who finished fourth in the first edition of the beach games in Cape Verde (2019), showed steel in the last three days.

"This means so much for us because most of the players in the team are newcomers, and this is their first time at such a competition. For them to go back home with a medal means so much, and it gives us motivation to push even harder," team skipper Michelle Odhiambo spoke after the 24-19, 17-20 sets game. "This experience has given us a clear picture of where we stand as a team and has shown us that it is possible to achieve even greater success. We came very close this time, and we will take the lessons learned from this championship to strive for excellence in the next."

Joining the two (Tunisia and Kenya) on the podium were third placed finishers Mali- who suffered a two sets loss to Kenya in their second group stage game on Sunday afternoon.

“Consistency and hard work finally,” National Olympics Committee Secretary General Francis Mutuku commended the team following their performance in the games that kicked off on Saturday 24 June.

Kenya got themselves to a fantastic start - staging a stunning comeback to beat Algeria by straight sets (19-13, 11-5) before nicking in a convincing win over Mali on Sunday - one that secured a podium position for the Michelle Adhiambo - captained side.

On the men’s side however, Kenya secured a fifth place finish in the tournament after getting a straight sets victory over Mali in the classification match on Monday morning.

Africa Beach Games: Kenya secures win over Mali to book podium position

That acted as a big improvement for the side that finished ninth in the inaugural edition of the games, Team player Victor Otuoma delighting in the performances as he spoke to NOC-K Media.

“As a team we have made tremendous strides and we have been improving match by match. It is a massive improvement from the last championship. We are delighted as a team with this and hopefully we continue moving up,” he said.

The outstanding performance of both the women's and men's handball teams reflects Kenya's commitment to developing and excelling in beach handball on the African stage.

The teams' achievements serve as a source of inspiration and motivation for athletes across the nation.