T. NashipaeLionesses keen to roar in Africa Sevens Cup
Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 14.10.23. | 12:01
Kenya is in Pool B alongside Ghana, Madagascar and Zambia
Kenya women's national team; Lionesses will be hoping to qualify for the Olympic Games for the third time in a row when they line up against their fellow African ladies in the Africa Cup Sevens set for October 14-15 in Tunisia.
The competition will serve as the qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
All the best to the @kenyalioness sevens as they chase 2024 Olympic qualification at the @RugbyAfrique Women's 7s on 14-15 October 2023 in Monastir, Tunisia.
— Shujaa (@KenyaSevens) October 13, 2023
The entire @OfficialKRU family is rooting for you.#KenyaLionesses#RugbyAfrica7s#RoadToParis2024
Photo: @ArigiObiero pic.twitter.com/i1YlvKS80n
The fierce ladies are not visitors to the Olympics, having previously graced the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where they failed to go past the initial stages.
With an experienced coach and squad, the ladies will be looking to better their 2022 Africa Championships as well as the Commonwealth Games qualifiers played in Tunisia where they were off to a worrying fifth finish.
They crashed out at the group stage after beating Zambia 22-0, hitting Ghana 20-0, and losing 10-7 to their determined neighbors Uganda.
The Dennis Mwanja-coached side will kick off their quest for Olympics with a match against Zambia at 11:44 am before taking on Ghana at 2:24pm. They will end their day with a match against Madagascar at 5:40pm.
If they proceed to the quarterfinals, semis and subsequent finals, they will play on Sunday 15, and cruise to the Olympics, just like their brothers Shujaa.
The Lionesses are in Pool B that sees them lock horns with Madagascar, Zambia and Ghana.
The team's captain Grace Adhiambo pointed out that the squad is ready to copy paste Shujaa's performance to make history in Tunisia.
Shujaa did not taste a loss in the South African nation. They checked into the South African nation with a resounding 34-10 win over Nigeria before whitewashing sorry Namibia 51-0 in their second pool match. They ended the day on a high with a 38-12 victory over Zambia.
Their fine form kept going and they defeated Burkina Faso 26-0 in the quarterfinals before seeing off Zimbabwe 35-10 in the semis.
"Shujaa have given us the blueprint and we want to go all out and make the country proud and qualify for Paris. We are up to the challenge,” Adhiambo noted.
Before departure, the team had a four-day training camp at the KCB Leadership Centre in Karen.
Pool 'A' will feature powerhouses South Africa, Uganda, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.
