Outrage greets Kenya Lionesses loss to Uganda in Africa 7s
Kenya Lionesses players hurdle before the captain's run on April 28, 2022 on the eve of the Africa Women's Sevens in Jemmal, Tunisia.
What you need to know:
- The Pool “B” loss came after their male compatriots, Shujaa, suffered a 22-12 beating at the hands of Uganda in the Africa Men’s Sevens in Kampala on Sunday. After the loss, Ugandans were in a celebratory mood saying “powers are slowly but surely shifting towards Kampala”.
Kenyans online expressed their disappointment after Kenya Lionesses suffered a shock 10-7 loss to Uganda in the ongoing Africa Women's Sevens in Jemmal, Tunisia on Friday.
The Pool “B” loss came after their male counterparts, Shujaa, suffered a 22-12 beating at the hands of Uganda in the Africa Men’s Sevens in Kampala on Sunday. After the loss, Ugandans were in a celebratory mood saying “powers are slowly but surely shifting towards Kampala”.
“We are making Ugandans look world class... It's now a national crisis,” said one fan, a view shared by many fans," Collins Nabiswa posted on Twitter.
The Lionesses, who have reached the last six finals, will have to work overtime to get there this time round.
“This is a very young team. Lack of experience also cost us,” said Lionesses captain Okello.
The Kenyans had kicked-off their campaign with a routine 22-0 rout of Zambia before they slumped to the shock loss to She Cranes in Jemmal, Tunisia.
Kenya will now face hosts Tunisia in the quarterfinals, while defending champions South Africa will tackle Zambia. Madagascar will battle Ghana while Uganda will tackle Zimbabwe with eyes on the semi-finals.
Against Zambia, coach Dennis Mwanja’s side led 15-0 at the break. Grace Okulu scored a brace of tries as Christabel Lindo got one try. The 2018 Africa champions also benefited from Zambian Margaret Chama being sin-binned in that first half.
Japan-based Janet Okello added the third try before Dorcas Mokaya wrapped up the rout after bursting through the defence to cross the line and convert her own try under the sticks.
In their first Pool “B” match, Uganda scored three unconverted tries to sink Zambia 15-5.
The Ugandans would then stun the Lionesses 10-7 in the East African derby to win the group.
A blunder by Okulu inside Kenya’s 22-metre resulted in a Ugandan scrum from which Charlotte Mudoola opened the scoring. Mokaya put Kenya 7-5 up at halftime after converting Okulu’s try.
Okulu had sprinted from her own half on the left wing to score under the uprights.
Uganda grabbed the winner through Yvonne Najjuma after winning a scrum after Okulu was sent to the sin-bin with less than 40 seconds from time.
Senegal will blame themselves for throwing the lead twice before losing 14-12 at the death against Zimbabwe in Pool “A” as hosts Tunisia defeated Ghana 17-5 in Pool “C”.
Defending champions South Africa were too strong for the Senegalese, running out 53-0 winners.
South Africa, Madagascar and Uganda finished the first day undefeated, with two victories out of two.
Kenya, Tunisia and Zimbabwe registered one win and a loss each. Zambia and Ghana, who lost their two matches at the groups, complete the list of quarter-finalists which was decided on points’ difference.
The winners of the nine-nation competition will qualify for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. South Africa have already qualified for the World Cup as hosts, meaning the winners or runners-up will join them if South Africa retains the trophy.
Quarters pairings:
South Africa v Zambia
Madagascar v Ghana
Uganda v Zimbabwe
Kenya v Tunisia
Day One results (April 29):
Pool A
Zimbabwe 14-12 Senegal
South Africa 53-0 Senegal
South Africa 15-0 Zimbabwe
Pool B
Zambia 5-15 Uganda
Zambia 0-22 Kenya
Uganda 10-7 Kenya
Pool C
Ghana 5-17 Tunisia
Ghana 5-29 Madagascar
Tunisia 5-7 Madagascar
