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

Kenya’s women handball team secured a place on the podium in the ongoing Africa Beach Games as they on Sunday beat Mali to clinch their second consecutive victory.

In the closely contested match, Kenya dominated the first set with a convincing 12-4 victory, before leaning on the exploits of team captain Michelle Adhiambo - who scored the winning goal in the second set to wrap up a 17-16 win.

The team's strategic decisions, particularly regarding the special player, once again proved fruitful.

Captain Adhiambo, this time switching with Gladys Chilo, played a pivotal role in turning the game around during the final four minutes.

"We changed the situation and had to re-strategize when it became a bit difficult,” Assistant captain Viona Wandera expressed her delight following the hard-fought victory. “We worked as a team and brought the victory home."

The thrilling straight sets dismissal has positioned the Kenyan team as strong contenders for a medal in the five-team round-robin tournament.

“We are really feeling excited because we are now officially in the medal bracket,” Wandera added. “Now we take a game at a time. With two matches remaining, we are pushing to get into the gold bracket."

Adhiambo led the scoring for Kenya with an impressive 14 points, with Brenda Ariviza contributing six points and Chilo adding four points to the team's tally.

While the women's team revels in their success, the men's team faced elimination after suffering defeat in their second match of the three-team pool.

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The men's team fought valiantly, but ultimately lost by straight sets with scores of 22-12 and 18-10.

In another discipline - sprint rowing - the Kenyan duo of Diana Natecho and Harrison Malenga reached the quarter-finals.

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Both athletes had successfully advanced through the preliminary time-trial stage but Malenga was defeated in the quarter-finals by Sudan, while Natecho faced tough competition from a local rower.

The afternoon session will see the handball ladies play Uganda while rowing will participate in the mixed category.