Preparations in top gear as handball men’s team ready for African tourney

Coach Peter Mwathi and his compatriot Bryan Matthews are confident that early preparations ahead of the 2024 African Men's Handball Championship are key for a good show for the national men’s handball team.

A squad of 24 has been in non-residential training for close to two weeks now in preparation for the 26th edition of the continental championship set to be held from 17 to 27 January 2024 in Egypt.

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The competition will act as the African qualifying tournament for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship, with the top five nations qualifying.

Tentatively, the team is set to leave the country on 15 January 2024 ahead of the extravaganza that brings together 16 teams.

Team Kenya will rely on the experience of long-serving players like keeper Victor Otuoma who has been capped 20 times for the team as well as Equity Bank’s Paul Ondara who ahs been capped 14 times.

The competition will begin with a preliminary round that will see the teams play in a round-robin group stage with each pool having four teams.

Kenya, who missed the last edition and were penalised for it, have been grouped with ten-time champions Tunisia, 2004, 2016 and 2018 bronze medalists Angola and Nigeria who have made 14 appearances in the continental competition since inception. 

Kenya has played in the championship three times, making a debut in 2004 for a ninth-place finish. They returned in 2016 looking to improve on their ranking but finished 12th. In 2020, it was a 15th place.

In 2022, Kenya had been pooled alongside Guinea, Algeria and Gabon but withdrew. The competition had initially been scheduled for January 2022 in Morocco but was moved to July in Egypt.

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