Thu, June 28, 2012
NAIROBI, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan quartet Margaret Indakala, Dorcas Ndasaba, Edna Rotich and Eunice Maiyo, set off Friday for the FIVB women's Beach Volleyball World Cup in Russia, the last chance to win a berth of the London Olympics.
Maiyo, who is also an Indoor Volleyball player, said there is no point to be worried about them getting routed as they have done their home work well.
"We all understand it is the last chance to get the Olympic ticket. Any mistake will be catastrophic and may end our hopes to travel to London," Maiyo said Friday in Nairobi. "We narrowly lost in African qualification round and we are determined to win in Moscow and qualify for Olympics."
Kenya failed to win an automatic Olympic ticket at the Africa Championships in Togo in May, where they finished second to Seychelles.
The silver and bronze medallists of five continental championships will compete at the World Cup, which is slated from June 28 to July 1. Only the top two teams will qualify for the London Games.
Both Indakala and Ndasaba are in their sunset years in sports. Indakala 48 and Ndasaba 44 are steering at their last chance to represent the country.
"I still play though I coach in Rwanda," said Ndasaba. "Beach volleyball is not strenuous, but I' m prepared for the battle. We would not be entering in this competition if we were not certain of our capability."
Kenya has competed at the Games in Sydney in 2000 and in Athens in 2004, where it lost all the matches.
The World Cup was previously scheduled in Italy but was moved to Moscow after the Italians cited unavoidable circumstances to pull out.
The Women's Olympic beach volleyball tournament will be played at a specially built stadium at Horse Guards Parade near Buckingham Palace.
