Kenya Lionesses hope to retain SOYA team of the year title

The Kenya Lionesses are hoping to retain their title after being named among the top five contenders for SOYA women’s team of the year award ahead of the ceremony set to be held on Friday in Mombasa.

The Kenya national rugby women’s sevens team is top on the list for the SOYA team of the year award ahead of the awards ceremony.

The Lionesses will compete for the award against Telkom Hockey team, Equity Hawks basketball team, Kenya Ports Authority basketball team and the national women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers.

Nairobi Water handball team and Kenya Prisons women’s volleyball team made the preliminary top seven but did not make the top five.

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Lionesses defied all the odds to win the elusive African title for the first time after beating Uganda 29-7 in the final.

At the Hong Kong Sevens which was a qualifier for the World Sevens Series Core status, the Kevin Wambua coached side reached the Cup semis after losing 12-7 to South Africa in sudden death, an improvement from last year where they reached the quarters.

They had topped Pool X with victories over Papua New Guinea, South Africa and Mexico, and went on to beat Argentina in the quarters before losing to South Africa in the semis.

At the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia, the team finished sixth after losing 40-5 to Fiji in the fifth-place play-off.

Meanwhile, Kenyans will be up against Ethiopians on Sunday when the 17th edition of Xiamen Marathon will be held in China.

Eliud Kiptanui, Peter Kimeli and Janet Jelagat have all confirmed their participation in the race.

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