Egypt exposes Malkia Strikers' underbelly that needs quick fixing

Last weekend, Egypt delivered a timely wake-up call to Malkia Strikers when they inflicted back-to-back 3-1 losses to Kenya at the African Games Zone Five qualifiers held in Cairo.

It was the perfect revenge for the Egyptians who had lost to Kenya 3-0 in the final of the African Nations Championship in Yaounde, Cameroon August last year. Almost five months later, this Egyptian side looked rejuvenated with the trio of Mariam Metwally, Mohamed Doaa and Aya Elshamy, who all missed the Yaounde final making their inclusion count.

Aya, who is returning from a shoulder injury, was devastating in attack with her experience rising to the fore in crucial moments of the game. Similarly, Metwally—who watched the Yaounde final from the bench sidelined by a knee injury--was a constant menace to a Kenyan side that looked disjointed in the absence of professional players Sharon Chepchumba and Veronica Adhiambo.

In all fairness, two weeks was insufficient time for the technical bench to come up with a winning side for the zonal qualifiers especially with the availability of Chepchumba and Adhiambo in doubt. But there should be no excuses for the Accra assignment with the team set to hit camp for at least three weeks ahead of the Games scheduled for March 8 to 23 in Accra, Ghana. Malkia Strikers will be going for a three-peat in Ghana after previous successes in Congo Brazzaville (2015) and Morocco (2019).

Selection headache

There are three gray areas that the technical bench needs to address in the next three weeks before they depart for Accra. Key among them is the setting department, where we have two talented setters in Emmaculate Nekesa and Esther Mutinda. The availability of the two setters brings back memories of Jane Wacu and Janet Wanja who, at their prime, served the national team for more than a decade.

Until the emergence of Wacu, Wanja was the number 1 setter for the national team having taken over from Judy Serenge. However, with time, Wacu cemented her place in the first team but then coach David Lung’aho cleverly found ways to tap into Wanja’s experience from time to time especially when he wanted to slow down the game. It took tactical masterclass and brilliant man management skills from Lung’aho to keep Wacu and Wanja in the team for almost 15 years. The fact that the two setters were bosom buddies helped his course.

Mutinda is Nekesa’s senior age-wise but the Kenya Pipeline setter has more experience at the national team which presents a selection headache for Japheth Munala and his technical bench. It’s imperative that they quickly settle on one of them as the first-choice setter in order for attackers and receivers to adapt to their playing style early before the team leaves for Accra.

Smooth transition

Kenya’s disjointed reception was partly to blame for the lacklustre performance in Cairo. The absence of Veronica threw the team off balance. Her namesake Pamela Adhiambo is a like-for-like replacement as she is effective in attack but needs to be supported while carrying out reception duties. Although not as effective in attack as Pamela, Jemimah Siang’u is an excellent receiver who on a good day, can even be better than a libero in reception.

While Mercy Moim and libero Aggripina Kundu have always shared the reception duties with remarkable success in past assignments, Munala has to settle on either Pamela or Siang’u as the other outside hitter to replace Veronica who is a doubt for the African Games due to club duties. Establishing a first team will be key to a successful title defence in Accra where Cameroon and Egypt are expected to put up a serious challenge for the crown.

Lastly, in my list of gray areas is the sticky issue of transition which we’ve struggled to address over the years. Kundu is arguably the best libero in the continent at the moment but she needs an understudy to slowly learn from her. She took over from Elizabeth Wanyama and has proved a key player for Malkia Strikers over the years.

We need to think about the future in this department and introduce a young libero to the team who will learn the ropes from Kundu so that, when she finally retires from the national team, there will be smooth transition. A good example of a well-managed transition in the current team is the introduction of Loice Simiyu at opposite. After making her national team debut in Yaounde last year, she followed it up with convincing performances in Cairo in both matches against Egypt.

The Kenya Pipeline player is proving to be a capable understudy for Chepchumba and is certainly one to watch out for in future. With the 2024 calendar a busy one, it’s important to call up young prospects to the national team for the pre-Olympics training camps planned from May here in Nairobi and Europe to introduce them to the demands of the national team.

Meanwhile, a big kudos to the men’s team, Wafalme Stars for qualifying for the African Games for the first time since 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique. It presents yet another opportunity for them to prove they can emerge as a third force in African men’s volleyball and I’m excited to see how they will perform in Accra come March.