Coach Owino calls for exposure as Team Kenya prepares for LA 2028 Beach Volleyball qualifiers
Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 28.05.26. | 07:37
The women's team is chasing back-to-back appearances following the historic Paris debut while the men are looking to make their debut
National beach volleyball men and women's teams are through to the next phase of the CAVB Continental Beach Cup cum 2028 Olympic qualifiers after placing second at the recently concluded Zone Five qualifiers at the Sawa Sawa Beach in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Download our Mozzart Sport app for more news
Head coach Patrick Owino says the feat has opened up the relatively new players to the endless possibilities as they look to qualify for the Los Angeles Summer Games, a first for the men's team and a return for the women following their debut in Paris.
CAVB is yet to confirm dates for the continental showpiece, instead giving a window between August and November.
The tactician has, however, called for early preparations as well as exposure to higher levels of competition in the region and beyond, arguing that his relatively new squad needs the experience to handle different game situations and the higher level of competition expected during the continental showpiece later in the year.
In Dar es Salaam, the Kenyan men lost their final matches against Egypt 0-2(18-21,13-21) and 0-2(16-21,16-21). The pair of Richard Amutalla and Anthony Chimanyi lost to the Egyptian duo of George Bakhit and Youssef Awad as the duo of Naftali Chumba and Reagan Kipchirchir lost to Aboesoud Eid and Youssef Abdel.
The results saw Kenya finish second behind the North Africans to qualify as the top two teams in each gender qualified for the next phase.
In the women’s category, Kenya finished second behind Egypt as well, this after beating Burundi in their last matches of the five-day event.
Selina Gambo and Veronica Adhiambo overwhelmed the pair Pamella Irakoze and Emmanuelle Ndayikengurukiye 2-0(21-12,21-8) while the duo of Sharleen Sembel and Sharon Jepkogei came from behind to defeat Nadia Buntubwimana and Emelyne Igiraneza 2-1(19-21,21-17,15-9).
"Our squad is good but a core of the players are inexperienced in beach volleyball. The two-week training camp before heading out to Tanzania came in handy as it helped us prepare the team to the best of our ability and that's what we will need more of as the continental competition approaches.
We are looking to register the teams for an upcoming regional meeting set for Burundi in July and one more, yet to be agreed on, just before the championship. The dates for the African competition are yet to be confirmed, but we will begin our preparations early regardless," coach Owino told Mozzart Sport.
The tactician believes that Kenya has what it takes to book the all-important tickets to the LA 2028 Games despite the level of competition expected in the next phase.