Hosts Kenya fall in opening matches
Kenyan teams kicked off their quest to be Africa hockey champions with loses to Egypt and South Africa in the men and women’s encounter respectively.
The Kenya hockey men lost narrowly to Egypt 2-3, in the 69 minute after keeping the Egyptians on their toes in the better part of the game.
The women were unable to hold on to their lead and ended up losing 1-3 to South Africa.
Moses Cheplait and George Mutira scored for Kenya in the 49th and 61st minute respectively while the Egyptian goals were scored by Mohammed Ragab in the 32nd minute and 52nd minute and Mohamed Ramadhan sealed their victory in the 69th minute.
The Kenyan ladies on the other hand started on a high note when they scored against their South African counterparts in the in the 5th minute raising hopes of an upset.
But the joy was short-lived as the South Africans equalized in the 34th minute through Mayne Jade just before halftime.
In the second half, South Africa sealed their victory by scoring two more goals through DU Plessis Lilian and Britz Tanya.
Both Kenyan teams have to win their remaining two matches in order to qualify for the semis.
In other matches, Defending Champions South Africa hit Ghana 6-2 in the Men’s second match, while Ghana destroyed Tanzania 18-0 in the other women’s match.
On Tuesday, Kenya’s women’s team takes on neighbours Tanzania at 10 am while the men’s team will tackle Ghana at 4pm.
The top men’s and women’s team will represent the continent in next year’s world cup at the Hague, Netherlands.