First batch of Team Kenya athletes to leave Kurume for Tokyo on Monday

KURUME CITY, Japan, Jul 18 – The sojourn from Kurume City to Tokyo for the Kenyan contingent headed for the Olympic Games will begin on Monday, with the first batch of athletes set to depart the pre-Olympic training camp for the competition city ahead of the opening ceremony.

The national women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers, will be the first to leave Kurume early Monday morning (Japan time) for Tokyo where they will undergo the necessary COVID-19 protocols before being admitted into the Olympics village.

The teams will arrive in Tokyo in staggered rhythm to ease off COVID protocols.

Sports CS Amina Mohamed addressed the team via Video Call from Nairobi and wished them all the best as they head to Tokyo.

“I have heard that you have all been very comfortable in Kurume and I want to thank the people for all their kindness and hospitality. Now go to Tokyo and make the country proud. We are all behind you and will offer the support you need,”  said the CS.

Meanwhile, Malkia Strikers say they are ready for Tokyo after winding up their training in Kurume.

“I want to thank NOC-K and the Ministry of Sports for giving us the opportunity to come here to Kurume and train. We have had the best of facilities and we have been treated very well by our hosts. The only thing we missed were some friendly matches but we understand it is because of the circumstances we are in right now,” Malkia Strikers head coach Paul Bitok told Capital Sport.

“But despite that, I believe we are ready to tackle the Championship as we head to Tokyo,” added the Malkia Strikers boss.

The tactician has also said that camping in Kurume was vital for the players to acclimatize and most important, get used to the time difference.

“Sometimes you would find that when we are heading to training some of the players are still sleepy because they are used to the time zone in Kenya. But at least now they have adjusted well,”  said the coach.

Skipper Mercy Moim was also happy with the week-long camp in Kurume and notes they are ready to tackle the world.

“Training has been well, we got all the facilities for practice, hospitality was good, we thank the Kurume people for that effort, we are grateful that in our team we have finished well without any COVID-19 positive cases we pray to God it continues so,” Moim revealed to Capital Sport.

“We have done enough training and we have done our research on our opponents; we have watched previous video of Japan playing and we have seen their weakness and their strength. Our performance against Japan will be good, we will not disappoint despite not playing may friendly matches we will surprise them,” confident Moim said.

-Shujaa wrapping up Kurume stay-

At the same time, the men’s sevens team, Shujaa will be the second team to leave Kurume on Tuesday with their female counterparts leaving on Thursday.

“Training has been very good and it has been a productive week for us. We started slow because the boys had to acclimatize and now we are ready to go. What remains is just a matter of fine tuning our preparations and game plan ahead of our first game against USA,”  said Shujaa coach Innocent Simiyu.

Speedstar Collins Injera was also impressed with the week of work put in when the boys were in Kurume.

“It has generally been a good session since we landed. The week has been great in terms of adaptation and we have done our best on the field and the boys are really feeling good. They are light on their feet and ready to go. Now it is just a matter of building momentum towards next week,” said Injera.

Both Malkia Strikers and Kenya 7s conducted their training in public where a handful Japanese residence in Kurume City were allowed to attend the sessions.

Malkia Strikers also engaged in a live press conference virtually with the Japanese media, attended by captain Mercy Moim and head coach Bitok.

-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Kurume City Japan-