Hockey: Kenya line up friendlies with South African clubs ahead of Paris Olympics qualifiers

Kenya men's hockey team will play Phoenix Hockey Club of South Africa tonight in one of the three build-up matches ahead of their African Hockey Road To Paris 2024 campaign

The Paris Olympic qualifiers get underway on Sunday through to November 5 at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Kenya will play Phoenix, who are ranked seventh in the eight-team Northern Blues Hockey Association League at 7pm (EAT).

The East Africans, who arrived in the host nation in time for the nine-day event last week, will then take on fourth-placed Chippas on Tuesday 7pm before they play league leaders, the Blues on Wednesday.

Chippas are fourth with 10 points from three wins, three losses with a draw from seven matches while The Blues are unbeaten from the same number of matches.

The three friendly matches are timely for the side that is seeking to qualify for the Olympics since their last appearance in 1988.

The side coached by Fidhelis KimanzI are drawn in Pool "B" together with Egypt, Ghana and Zambia.

Kenya, who are placed 56th in the latest International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings, have a date with Egypt who are ranked 20th on October 29 before they battle Zambia (67) the next day. They will then face off with Ghana (37) on November 1 in their final pool match.

Pool "A" has South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-final.

Although the schedule released by Kenya Hockey Union on Monday has indicated that the women's team will also play friendly matches, on Tuesday and Wednesday, they are yet to confirm their opponents. 

Over the weekend, Kenya had lost to Northerns Waterkloof 3-1 before they won against Northerns Benoni with the same score line.

Kenya women's team are in Group "B" with Zambia, Namibia and Ghana while South Africa headline Pool "A" which also has Nigeria and Zimbabwe.