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Kenya women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers will be hoping to recapture the women’s Team of the Year award it last won in 2016 when the Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya) gala set for next month is staged in Mombasa.
Malkia Strikers will face stiff competition from national women’s football team Harambee Starlets as well as Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) basketball team.
Kenya Football Federation Women’s Premier League champions Vihiga Queens, who have won back-to-back league titles, are also in contention for the award alongside Kenya Sevens team Lionesses.
Malkia Strikers were nominated for the award after beating Cameroon in the final to retain the African Games title in Morocco.
The team also won the 2015 title in Congo Brazzaville. It was sweet revenge for the team, who had lost to Cameroon in the Africa Nations Cup Championship held in Egypt in July. Malkia Strikers later played in the World Cup, winning one match against Cameroon.
On other hand, KPA finished second in the just concluded Fiba Zone Five Championship, losing to JKL from Uganda. KPA also boasts of seven national team players. The Mombasa-based team reached the final of the Kenya Basketball Federation women’s premier League play-offs final and lost to rivals Equity Bank 3-2 in the best-of-five series.
QUALIFIED FOR THE OLYMPICS
Kenya Lionesses qualified for 2020 Olympics for the second time in a row, having also played in the 2016 Olympics. At the Hong Kong Sevens, the Felix Oloo-coached side reached Main Cup semi-finals after losing 17-5 to eventual winners Brazil. They topped Pool B with victories over Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Uganda and beat Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Harambee Starlets will hope that their exploits at the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Women Senior Challenge Cup will give them an edge over the other four teams.
Starlets won the regional tournament unbeaten and without conceding a goal. Starlets produced the top scorer in the tournament in Jentrix Shikangwa.
The team also reached the penultimate round of the 2020 Olympics qualifiers, eventually losing to Zambia in a two-legged tie.
Vihiga Queens will be hoping for a good outing as well.
The Vihiga County sponsored outfit defended the league title, thanks to their one match loss and a draw.
The January 24 Soya gala is sponsored by Safaricom, with co-sponsorship from County Government of Mombasa, Kenya Pipeline, Communication Authority of Kenya, New KCC, Lapfund, Kenya Power, UBA Bank, Nairobi Bottlers, Kenya Ports Authority, NHIF, NSSF, Kenya Tourism Board and GOtv.
