No dawdling for beach volleyball team as Olympics test awaits

Women's beach volleyball team have no time to celebrate or rest as a tougher assignment awaits and they have barely a month to get ready for the competition in Tokyo. 

The team beat Nigeria in the Continental Cup-cum Olympic qualifier concluded in Morocco on Sunday, 27 June to book a ticket to Tokyo with two days left to the close of qualification for the Summer Games. 

Unlike their indoor volleyball counterparts who have been in camp since March and trained under FIVB seconded technical team from mid-April, the Sammy Mulinge-coached women have to make do with the 25 days left to prepare for the biggest stage of their playing career. 

"I am impressed by my players for fighting for this chance and being part of this historical moment where Kenya will field a team at the Olympics for the first time since the beach volleyball was adopted as an Olympic sport," 

Kenya Beach Volleyball team qualifies for Tokyo Olympics

"With the little time we had to prepare for this competition, what they have done is impressive. I am grateful to the federation and the government for allowing us to grace this competition but now more work awaits. My desire is to allow the players a two-day rest and we get back to training in Mombasa. The teams we expect to compete against in Tokyo are experienced and we need to be at our best," said coach Mulinge. 

The men's team, on their part, were eliminated in the quarters and ranked sixth but team captain Ibrahim Oduor believes the team's chances of featuring at the next Olympics just got better with the exposure. 

"We headed to Morocco with two tickets to the Olympics in mind but the women's team managed to achieve. This is a challenge to the men's team. The points we got in Morocco has seen our ranking improve but the target remains, to represent the country at the World stage. This was a learning process and I am sure the youngsters have picked valuable lessons and with participation in more competition they will deliver this dream for Kenya soon," said Oduor.