L. MathekaBeach queens Makokha, Agala headed to World Championships
Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 02.06.22. | 14:59
The 13th edition of the Beach Volleyball World Championships will be played at the Foro Italico in Rome
Olympians Gaudencia Makokha and Bracxides Agala are set to represent Kenya at this month’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.
Twelve women’s pools and a similar number in the men’s category for the first phase of the event were drawn in Jurmala on Tuesday to set the stage for an exciting competition in the Italian capital, Rome, from 10 to 19 June.
Kenya landed pool L that has a pair from the host country, Italy, Poland and Germany. Morocco, Egypt and Mozambique as Africa's representatives at the Championships.
“FIVB gave guidelines as to how teams will qualify for the Championship, based on ranking, meaning the Olympians fit the bill as per the eligibility criteria. We are hoping that the ministry of Sports through the sports fund will continue supporting the beach volleyball teams to compete in such events as this way, our rankings get better and more opportunities are realized.
Kenya have been placed in Pool L of World Beach Volleyball Championships set for June 10-19 in Rome, Italy.
— Samuel Gacharira (@SamuelGacharira) June 1, 2022
The pair of Brackcides Agala and Gaudencia Makokha will face off with Italy, Germany and Poland.
Africa’s other representatives Morocco & Mozambique are in Pool C & K. pic.twitter.com/fjEVbTCKfW
So far, they (ministry) have extended immense support to our efforts to grow this version of the sport to international standards and the fruits are there to be seen,” said head of the Beach volleyball commission who led the pair in their debut at the Olympics Sammy Mulinge.
Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Qualification System to Championships directed that the top four highest ranked teams per gender were to qualify for the Rome 2022 event. The quota place is allocated to the National Federation and each federation must choose its athletes respecting the criteria set.
Eligible athletes must have participated in, and scored points, at least one of the homologated events listed in the qualification pathway which include the 2019 Africa Beach Games held in Cape Verde, 2019 African Games held in Rabat-Morocco, the 2021 CAVB Continental Cup 2 Round phase held in Agadir-Morocco and the 2021 CAVB Continental Cup Final phase held in Agadir - Morocco too.
“We have been preparing remotely as Makokha is in Mombasa while Agala was away with her team in Tunisia for the Club Championships. However, they are at a good place physically and their experience will come in handy as they sharpen their technical skills,” added Mulinge further revealing that Kenya’s participation will be a step in the right direction towards the 2024 Olympics qualification.
The 48 teams per gender are distributed into 12 round-robin pools of four duos each. At the end of the pool phase, the top two teams in each pool and the best four third-placed pairs will advance to the elimination rounds.
The remaining eight teams that rank third in their pools will play a four-match lucky-loser round to complete the 32 teams in the knockout bracket. The entire tournament will feature 216 matches across 10 days of competition.
