Hockey: Kenya men finish sixth at Paris Olympic qualifiers
Kenya's Danstone Wabwire (centre) in action against Nigeria in the fifth place final during the ongoing African hockey Road to Paris 2024 qualifiers at the University of Pretoria in South Africa on November 4, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The West Africans maintained their superiority over Kenya who they had beaten 4-2 in the third-place play-off during the 2022 African Cup of Nations in Accra, Ghana
- John Peters bagged a brace for Nigeria in the sixth and 35th minutes, while James Samala and Olawale Ajibua added one apiece in the 52nd and 56th minutes respectively
- Festus Onyango (21),Cliffe Omari (23) and Danstone Wabwire(56) sounded the boards for Kenya
Kenya men's hockey team finished sixth after they were defeated by Nigeria 4-3 in the fifth place final of the African qualifiers for Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the University of Pretoria, South Africa on Saturday.
The West Africans maintained their superiority over Kenya who they had beaten 4-2 in the third-place play-off during the 2022 African Cup of Nations in Accra, Ghana.
John Peters bagged a brace for Nigeria in the sixth and 35th minutes, while James Samala and Olawale Ajibua added one apiece in the 52nd and 56th minutes respectively.
Festus Onyango (21), Cliffe Omari (23) and Danstone Wabwire (56) sounded the boards for Kenya.
Kenya had failed to go past the group on Wednesday before they regrouped to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in the fifth place semi-final on Thursday.
Nigeria on the other hand, had beaten Zambia 5-1 to book a date with Kenya.
Meanwhile, Kenya women's hockey team aka The Blades will face off with rivals Ghana in the third play-off on Sunday.
Kenya were defeated by minnows Nigeria 1-0 in the semi-final on Friday.
This will be the second time the two teams are meeting after Kenya edged out Ghana 3-2 in a Pool "B" encounter.
Kenya coach Meshack Senge has said they will try to put behind their poor show against Nigeria on Friday and aim for a bronze medal.
Uganda will take on Ghana in the men's third-place play-off.
South Africa will play Nigeria in the women's final, while Egypt will square it out with South Africa in the men's version.
