Kabucho hoping S.A trip will open doors for professional career

National women's netball side, Kenya Divas might have missed out on a place in the World Cup set for next year, but the qualifiers played in Pretoria last week came as a blessing for one Beatrice Kabucho. 

The towering goal shooter who represents Prisons Kenya locally stood tall amongst her peers in the championship as Kenya finished fifth, the highest ranking for the side since making a return to international competition in 2018. 

She picked back-to-back player of the match accolades as Divas beat Eswatini in the group stage and Botswana in the fifth-place playoff to crown an immaculate performance for the Joseph Makau-coached side. 

"I was happy with the team's performance. We gave it our all. The two wins shows the effort we put in and especially against Botswana who had come out to prove that they are better than Kenya. 

Getting named the best player in the two matches makes me happy even as credit goes to my teammates for making it happen," offered the 26-year-old. 

Kenya Divas beat Botswana for fifth place in WCQ

She continued, "Competing on the international level gave us the opportunity to showcase our skills and talent and my prayer is to get to compete internationally at the club level. I am open to any such opportunities that will help me gey better in the sport." 

Makau who was also in charge of the team during the Commonwealth Games qualifiers in 2021 where Divas managed just one win against Botswana says Kabucho's star is rising all thanks to her attitude. 

"She is a very special player. She came into the sport at a time when international netball was taking a new direction of using tall shooters and she fit right into the team. 

The best thing about her is that she is a good listener and takes every correction positively. Her positive attitude has made her the star she is now," offered Makau. 

South Africa beat Malawi 60-44 to win the African qualifiers but the two sides had already gained qualification to the global championship set for Cape Town, South Africa next year. 

South Africa qualified as hosts while Malawi and Uganda had direct tickets by virtue of their ranking. Zimbabwe beat Zambia 59-41 for the last slot to the showpiece set for 28 July to 6 August 2023.