Kenya wins last match in FIVB World Cup
Kenya ended her campaign in the FIVB Women’s World Cup with a hard fought 3-2 (23-25, 29-27, 25-27, 25-23, 15-13) win over Peru on Sunday in Japan.
The outcome saw Kenya finishing the tournament in tenth place with 6 point from 11 matches played ahead of Peru (5) and Algeria (0).
Kenya, who are the African champions, hard a tough tournament but managed to beat both Algeria and Peru to register their first ever wins in the FIVB World Cup.
China, which is the only side managed by a female coach in the competition, were crowned world champions for the fourth time following an impressive 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25) win over hosts Japan.
China finished top amongst the twelve nations in the competition with a points tally of 30 ahead of Serbia who amassed 28 points.
Outgoing world champions USA (27), European champions Russia (26) and Japan (22) wrapped up the top five places in that order.
Kenya’s best performance in the tournament was without doubt the game against Peru in a contest that lasted exactly 2 hours and 14 minutes.
WRONG DECISIONS
But at times Kenya rode her luck – especially on two occasions when crucial officiating decision seemed to have wrongly gone against them.
The two decisions were eventually reversed thanks to the video technology – which allows neutral assessors to overall wrong decision by the referee.
The ever-reliable attacker Mercy Moim finished the match with 19 points, one behind the highest tally managed by Peru’s Karla Ortiz – and two ahead of compatriots Lydia Maiyo and Ruth Jepngetich.
Moim also finished sixth overall on the top scorer’s charts with 146 points. South Korean Kim Yeon-Koung was the top scorer with 197 points.
“We have achieved our targets here because we wanted to win atleast two (out of eleven) matches. These results are very important for Kenya and Africa,” Lung’aho said after the match.
The tournament was played in six cities for 16 days, with each of the 12 competing teams playing against each other.
The Kenyan contingent led by Sports Kenya chairman Fred Muteti and team manager Kenneth Tonui is expected back in Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon.
Final points tally after eleven matches)
1. China (30)
2. Serbia (28)
3. USA (27)
4. Russia (26)
5. Japan (22)
6. Korea (16)
7. Dominican Republic (16)
8. Argentina (12)
9. Cuba (11)
10. Kenya (5)
11. Peru (5)
12. Algeria (0)
Top scorers
1. Kim Yeon Koung (South Korea) – 197 points
2. Ombochaeva Nataliya (Russia) – 161 points
3. Boskovic Tijana (Serbia) – 159 points
4. Nagaoka Miyu (Japan) – 156 points
5. Koga Sarina (Japan) – 150 points
6. Moim Mercy (Kenya) – 146 points