Kenya hockey teams storm Cup of Nations semis

Kenya women's hockey team Thursday advanced to the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations after they defeated stubborn Nigeria 2-1 in their last pool 'B' match at the Theodosia Ukoh Hockey Stadium in Accra, Ghana.

Kenya rallied from a goal down to book a slot in the last four where they are likely to play South Africa on Friday who lead pool 'A' with six points with a game at hand.

South Africa were scheduled to play winless and neighbours Uganda at 8pm Thursday.
Aurelia Opondo sounded the boards in the 15th minute through a fantastic field goal to restore parity after Nigeria had taken the lead in the 11th minute through Benedicta Johnson's penalty corner. The teams headed to the breather level.

The West Africans will blame themselves for missing scoring chances for the better part of the second half.

Kenya went ahead in the 54th minute through Naomi Kemunto's superb field goal to put the game beyond Nigeria reach.

Kenya coach Jacqueline Mwangi said the result goes to show that Kenya has talent for the world to see.

"I'm happy with the result and the fact that we have proceeded to the next stage is a plus to the team. Although the players need to show more desire going forward," said the former international.

"We have achieved the target of playing in the semi-final. Nigeria was a good opponent and they came at us but I'm glad we emerged the winners. We have to wait and see how the next stage goes," added Kenya captain Rhoda Kuira.

Nigeria coach Hellen Otah conceded defeat.

"We lost honorably. We had the chances especially the third quarter but we couldn't just convert them and later on, we were punished. We hope to do better in the next matches," stated Otah.

In the men's event, Kenya finished second in pool 'A' after they succumbed to champions South Africa 2-1 on Wednesday.

Chui will meet the Pool 'B' leaders Egypt, who have six points with a game in hand against Uganda, in one of the semi-finals.

Egypt were set to play Uganda later Thursday while Nigeria were to battle Ghana to determine who finishes second in pool 'B'.

Nigeria are second with three points, while the hosts have one point from two matches.

At the end of the event, the winners in the women's edition will represent the continent in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Cup on July 1 to 17 to be co-hosted in Netherlands and Spain, while the winner in the men's event will book a slot in next year's championship in India on January 13-29.