Kenya sets up Nigeria semis showdown at Hockey Olympic qualifiers

The national women hockey team Blades edged Nambia 1-0 in their final match of pool B at the ongoing Africa Olympic qualifiers in Pretoria, South Africa on Wednesday.

Grace Bwire was the heroine as she grabbed the sole goal seven minutes to the final whistle to make it three wins in a row for the Kenyans who topped the standings in pool B with nine points.

The Blades thrashed Zambia 4-0 in their opening match on Sunday before beating Ghana 3-2 on Monday.

Kenya will now take on Nigeria in the semis on Friday and captain Lyne Kipsang is adamant they will progress to the finals with a ticket to the Paris Olympics at stake.

“I am happy for this win. It was not an easy one as I felt Namibia were really going hard at us. As we head to the semis, I feel we still need to up our game especially when it comes to penalty corner (PC) offence,” said Kipsang.

The men’s team Chui will be looking for a second victory on the trot when they take on Ghana later on Wednesday.

After losing 2-0 to powerhouses Egypt in their opening match on Sunday, Chui bounced back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Zambia on Monday.