Agala, Makokha picked for Beach Volleyball Commonwealth Games task
Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 21.07.22. | 20:32
Kenya is drawn in a tricky Pool 'A' alongside defending champions Canada, New Zealand and Ghana
The pair of Brackcides Agala and Gaudencia Makokha will represent Kenya in beach volleyball at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom that kicks off later this month and stretches into August.
Agala and Makokha, together with the other pair of Naomi Too and Phoscah Kasisi had pitched camp at Pride Inn Flamingo Beach Resort, Mombasa for over a month preparing for the competition.
The Olympians were picked for the "Club" Games ahead Too and Kasisi despite sitting out of the African Commonwealth Games beach volleyball qualifiers in Accra, Ghana in March where Too partnered with Veronicah Adhiambo as Agala and Makokha watched.
The team's coach Salome Wanjala said the pair of Agala and Makokha was impressive in the training, experience, and exposure notwithstanding considering they were at the World Championships last month on top of their Olympics appearance last year.
"It was a close call but Agala and Makokha excelled. Too and Kasisi also gave a good account of themselves but unfortunately, only one pair has to travel. I hope they will get a chance to compete in the Senior Nations Cup to be staged in Morocco later this month. We have moved our training to Nairobi but we will not do much since there are no training facilities at Kasarani. "My prayer is that we will depart to Birmingham early so that we can acclimatise. In Mombasa, it has been raining while in England it's humid," Wanjala said as quoted on Nation Sports.
Kenya face off with New Zealand on July 30 in their opening match, then take on Canada on August 1, before wrapping up the group with Ghana.
Wanjala remains hopeful that if they play well they will make it to the knockouts, adding that the players know what is expected of them thanks to their experience.
"If we play well we can proceed to the next stage. Agala and Makokha have been in competitive championships and they know what to do and what is expected of them. The weather can affect our performance but we know if we leave early, we can cover the lost time,"," said Wanjala, who is also the Nairobi Prisons women's indoor team coach," she added.
The top two teams in each pool will earn automatic tickets to the quarter-final with the best loser of each group joining them.
