Malkia Strikers begin World Championship campaign against Germany

National women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers, open their seventh participation in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship on Saturday, 23 August, with a clash against Germany at 1 pm (EAT) as the competition enters a new era in Thailand.

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This year’s tournament, which will be held across four cities, Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Phuket, and Chiang Mai, from Friday, 22 August to Sunday, 7 September, will go down as the first in the new format, which will see the world title put in dispute every two years.

It is also the first edition to have an expanded field of 32 national teams, allowing more countries to participate.

Malkia Strikers' appeal to President Ruto over unfulfilled promises ahead of World Championships [VIDEO]

The 32 national teams were split into eight pools of four and will face each of their three opponents during pool play. The top two national teams in each pool will advance to the elimination rounds, which will feature the Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the medal matches.

Kenya is looking to break the preliminaries jinx, having not advanced to the knockout stages in six appearances; a massive improvement should they succeed. The side finished 19th in the last edition held in the Netherlands and Poland back in 2022, where they won one match against Cameroon. Kenya’s best finish at the global event remains 13th in 1994 and 1998.

Coach Geoffrey Omondi’s charges, ranked 23rd globally, have not played any official matches counting towards the World Ranking since their appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and have their work cut out against the Germans.

Playing their Group Phase matches in Phuket, their charge will be led by skipper Meldina Sande, with the squad still heading out as underdogs despite featuring six Olympians in setter Emmaculate Nekesa, opposite Pamella Adhiambo, outsides Juliana Namutira and Veronica Adhiambo, and middle blockers Belinda Barasa and Lorine Chebet.

The squad has had a tough outing in Vietnam, where they played against Spain and Vietnam in their only international build-up matches. They lost to the hosts 4-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-19, 25-19) and 2-1 (25–15, 20–25, 25–20) to the former. 

Against Germany, Malkia Strikers are taking on a side ranked 11th in the world, having finished seventh in the Volleyball Nations League earlier this year.

Italian head coach Giulio Bregoli’s squad will be captained by 25-year-old middle blocker Camilla Weitzel. Libero Anna Pogany, outside hitters Lina Alsmeier, Lena Stigrot, and Hanna Orthman, and middle blocker Marie Scholzel will star as some of the more experienced players, while the most notable injury absences are those of setter Pia Kastner and libero Annie Cesar. 

Host City: Phuket

Match Schedule

August 23, 13:00: Germany v Kenya

August 23, 16:30: Poland v Vietnam

August 25, 13:00: Germany v Vietnam

August 25, 16:30: Poland v Kenya

August 27, 123:00: Kenya v Vietnam

August 27, 16:30: Poland v Germany