Kenya’s hunt for medals at the second edition of the Africa Beach Games in Hammamet, Tunisia will start on the opening day of competition on Saturday, with the sprint rowers and the handball teams in action.
The women’s handball team has been in Tunisia for the past five days, playing in the Beach Handball Global Tour, where they clinched silver after losing to hosts Tunisia in the final.
They will open their campaign against Algeria on Saturday morning, and the team says the experience gathered from the tour will be vital in their hunt for a first ever beach games medal.
Skipper Michelle Adhiambo says they are ready and prepared to do their best and rake in a medal for the Kenyan team.
“We have had a chance to play against some of the teams during the Global Tour and it has had a really great impact on our preparation. It has helped us get to know the teams and also settle in early enough, so we are ready,” Adhiambo said.
She added; “We will take every match seriously. We will not underrate any team even those we beat in the global tour because they have definitely gone and done their homework on us.”
Meanwhile, the men, who open the competition against Morocco, had their first training session on Friday evening and they say they are ready to contest. Senior player Kelvin Obunga says they want to do better than the first edition in Sal, Cape Verde, in 2019, when they lost all their matches.
“We have confidence, especially looking at how we have prepared. We have been in camp in Buntwani for the last one and a half weeks as a team together and it has helped us work on various aspects of our game. This time, we want to try and do better and even fight for a medal,” he said.
The sprint rowers will also be in action on day one, with the duo of Harrison Malenga and Diana Natecho be flying Kenya’s flag on the waters of Hammamet.
The duo, alongside their coach Mathew Lidaywa has been in Tunisia for the past one week training and acclimatizing as well as getting used to competition equipment, and they say they are ready to do their best in the competition.
“We have been here for a week now, and we are getting used to the equipment and the water as well and I believe we are doing okay. We are preparing to do our best and the target is to try fight for a medal position and qualify for the World Championship,” said coach Lidaywa.
Malenga will be competing in a Kenyan jersey for the first time and he says he is excited, and echoes the coach’s sentiment that they will battle for a medal.
“I am really excited to be competing for Kenya. I have only participated once outside the country when I travelled to South Africa in February, but it was just a friendly tour. The past one week has been really beneficial being here and getting used to everything. At first the waves were too strong for me but now I am used to it. I am ready for a medal fight,” the 24-year old stated.
Natecho meanwhile is competing in her second international event, having had a prior experience from Namibia last year, but this will be the first time doing sprint beach rowing.
“We are really confident as a team and personally also, I feel ready. It is the first time using such boats but training with them since last week has helped us get used to them and have some confidence as well. We are now ready,” she added.
