Malkia Strikers land in tough group for the FIVB World Championships
Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 18.03.22. | 11:09
Kenya renew their rivalry with Cameroon, this time at the global stage after being pooled together
Kenya Women’s Volleyball National Team, Malkia Strikers have landed in a tough pool for the 2022 FIVB Women’s World Championships set to be hosted jointly by Netherlands and Poland starting September 23 to October 15.
Kenya was placed in Pool A alongside arch-rivals Cameroon, hosts the Netherlands, European champions Italy, Belgium, and Puerto Rico during a virtual draw ceremony held at FIVB headquarters in Switzerland on Thursday evening.
Group of Death!
— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) March 17, 2022
Malkia Strikers have been pooled in group A for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Poland/Holland.
Other teams in group A are Italy, Holland, Belgium, Puerto Rico and Cameroon.#MalkiaStrikers pic.twitter.com/NxTCTkm13b
Kenya is the lowest-ranked team at position 27 of the six in Pool A according to FIVB Senior World Ranking - Women, and will be out to stage upsets at the global stage, with Italy and Netherlands being in the top ten as Belgium, Puerto Rico, and Cameroon occupy the 13th, 17th, and 20th positions respectively.
This will be the seventh time that Malkia strikers will be making an appearance at the Championship, and will be hoping to record their second win at the championship having picked a historic win during the 2018 edition in Japan as they saw off Kazakhstan by straight sets.
Malkia Strikers will be seeking to avenge the recent double defeat to Cameroon during the African Nations Championship in September last year, going down in the group stage as well as in the final as Cameroon won 3-1 to defend their title.
THOUGHTS ON THE POOLS?
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) March 17, 2022
Good luck to all 24 teams that are set to compete at the FIVB #Volleyball Women's World Championship 2022!
Full info: https://t.co/oltMDWgBVy
🏐 #Electrifying2022 pic.twitter.com/PU7SnPNcEx
Having finished first and second in Kigali during the continental showpiece, the reigning champions Cameroon and Kenya will be representing the continent by virtue of being finalists in the African Nations Championship which doubled up as qualifiers for the World Championship.
Defending champions Serbia are in Pool C alongside Olympic champions USA, Germany, Bulgaria, Canada, and Kazakhstan.
DRAW
Pool A: Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Cameroon, Kenya
Pool B: Poland, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Korea, Thailand, Croatia
Pool C: USA, Serbia, Germany, Bulgaria, Canada, Kazakhstan
Pool D: Brazil, China, Japan, Colombia, Argentina, Czech Republic
