Amos Abuga @PeopleSports11
Former Kenyan champions Pipeline are through to the quarter-finals of the 2019 Africa Club Championships after convincing wins in their opening two rounds of matches in Cairo, Egypt.
The six-time continental winners on Tuesday evening thwarted Egyptian side Shooting to make it two wins in a row to all but secure their place in the last eight. The oilers won in straight sets of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-21 to make their last evening’s match against FAP of Cameroon a formality.
However, it was not all rosy for for Kenyan sides on Tuesday as Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and champions Prisons both lost to Egyptian sides Sporting and Algeria’s GSP respectively.
First on the court was Prisons who lost 3-1 to the Algerian side, dropping to second place in the Pool D standing as a result. After going down 15-25 in the opening set, the wardressess fought back to level the sets 1-1 after a convincing 25-14 victory. Josp Barasa’s side then lost 23-25 and 22-25 in the third and fourth sets respectively.
Of concern to the team is the injury to key attacker Evelyne Makuto which was sustained in the match.
Prior to the match, talk was rife that the Kenyan champions risked being kicked out of the annual championships after failing to pay their subscription fee, something team manager David Kilundo dismissed. Prisons conclude their final pool match against 2014 first runners-up Elshams of Egypt today.
Meanwhile, bankers KCB lost 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-23 to Egyptian side Sporting and were scheduled to play 2017 winners Carthage of Tunisia last night for a place in the last eight.
