Hockey: Kenya hit Zamiba to revive Olympic hopes
Kenya's Charles Ashihundu (right) in action against Zambia during their 2024 African hockey Olympic qualifier match on October 30,2023 in Pretoria, South Africa.
What you need to know:
- In the women's match played at the same venue, Zambia recovered from Sunday's 4-0 defeat at the hands of Kenya 4-0 to see off Namibia 3-2.
- Martha Kalome (8th), Carol Nakombe (36th) and Christibe Kaluna (50th) scored for Zambia, while Tisha Semedo and Adore Meyer sounded the boards for Namibia in the 37th and 47th minutes respectively.
Kenya men's hockey team Monday struck late to secure a 1-0 win against Zambia in the ongoing 2024 African Hockey Olympic qualifiers at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
Dependable defender Robert Masibo made all the difference in the 53rd minute when he scored through a penalty stroke to break the deadlock
Chui, who had fallen at the hands of Egypt 2-0 on Sunday, revived their chances of qualifying for the last four with the hard fought win. All teams have a rest day on Tuesday before action resumes on Wednesday.
Kenya will wrap up the pool with a must-win match against rivals Ghana on Wednesday.
Kenya coach Fidelis Kimanzi said it was not the best of performance but was glad they got the three points.
"They boys have acclimatized now and are ready for a good show on Wednesday. We expect a better performance against Ghana as it's a must win for us to qualify for semis. The pressure will stir us up for the challenge," Kimanzi told Nation Sport from Pretoria on Monday.
"Charles Ashihundu has been impressive, he has shown confidence and really his future is bright.
Mathias Gularile is OK. He just needs to calm down and play his game. He has shown some flashes, but we expect he will come through well. We haven't seen him in his true element yet and we hope as the tournament goes on, he will turn up," he added.
Egypt lead pool "B" with six points from two matches having won against Ghana 1-0 in the earlier match played at the same venue.
Kenya and Ghana are tied on three points from two matches each played, although the East Africans have inferior goal difference, while Zambia are pegged bottom winless from two matches.
In the women's match played at the same venue, Zambia recovered from Sunday's 4-0 defeat at the hands of Kenya 4-0 to see off Namibia 3-2.
Martha Kalome (8th), Carol Nakombe (36th) and Christibe Kaluna (50th) scored for Zambia, while Tisha Semedo and Adore Meyer sounded the boards for Namibia in the 37th and 47th minutes respectively.
