Lakers arrive in Malawi after three days on the road
RentCo Africa Founder and Chief Executive Officer Robert Nyasimi (right) hands over a Sh1 million cheque to Lakers Hockey Club players at Swiss Lenana Mount Hotel, on November 10, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The Kisumu-based outfit, who are making their second appearance in the event, had been on the road for 33 hours and one minute as they crossed over to Karonga on Thursday at 1pm (EAT) from Dar es salaam, Tanzania.
- The team had left Dar through Morogoro, Iringa ,Makambako, Tunduma to Ipanya covering a distance of 951.7km, about 16hr and 51 minutes before crossing the Malawi border on Thursday morning.
Despite a gruesome and exhausting road trip that Lakers women's hockey team embarked on to compete in the African Cup for Club Champions in Blantyre, Malawi, team coach Austine Tuju says it has helped them bond.
"It took an average of three to four hours for the ports to be opened so that we could be served. Again the delays of clearing our bus has taken up our time, but other than that, the journey has been interesting,the team has taken enough time to bond and also to relax. The only thing is the anxiety at the borders but we are more than happy to be in Malawi. We are good to go," said Tuju in a phone call interview with Nation Sport at the Karonga border in Malawi.
Lakers defender Ashley Akinyi cheekily said, "Weather ni kama ya Kisumu, Tunasikia tu harufu ya Samaki (The weather is similar to that in Kisumu and we can smell the fish)" when asked about the weather in Malawi.
According to the DistanceFrom.com application, it takes 10 hours and 34 minutes by road from the Karonga border, which is the northern part of Malawi to Blantyre where the week-long event will bull off on Saturday, meaning Lakers are scheduled to arrive in the southern part of the city at 11pm.
Lakers left Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon before crossing over to Dar on Wednesday afternoon.
The Kisumu-based outfit, who are making their second appearance in the event, had been on the road for 33 hours and one minute as they crossed over to Karonga on Thursday at 1pm (EAT) from Dar es salaam, Tanzania.
The team had left Dar through Morogoro, Iringa ,Makambako, Tunduma to Ipanya covering a distance of 951.7km, about 16hr and 51 minutes before crossing the Malawi border on Thursday morning.
RentCo Africa Limited came to the aid of the team last week after they failed to raise air tickets of 18 players and five officials, handing them Sh 2.2 million for logistics.
"We remain grateful to RentCo Africa Limited for facilitating our trip.Perhaps without them this could not have happened and regardless of the long distance it has taken us to get here, we are just happy that we will compete in the event. We hope to turn around the circumstances and perform well," added the team manager John Paul.
The self sponsored team finished fourth ahead of compatriots Blazers and Strathmore University on their maiden show at the continental event early this year in Nairobi as Ghana Revenue Authority retained the title
Lakers have been drawn in pool "A" together with Scorpions and Genetrix from Malawi as well as Delta Queens from Nigeria.
Lakers will launch their title campaign against Delta Queens on Saturday at the Hockey Stadium before they battle Scorpions on November 22.
They will then complete their group matches with a tie against Genetrix the following day.
Meanwhile, Kenya's other women's representative Blazers landed safely in Malawi on Thursday. The top two teams in each pool will book a place in the semi-final. Western Jaguars are the country's sole representative in the men's event.
