Malkia re-ignite Rio 2016 hopes with Algeria win

Malkia Strikers re-ignited their hopes of playing at Rio 2016 after stopping continental rivals Algeria 3-1 in their second FIVB Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sunday.

Malkia triumphed 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-14, 25-16) to recover from a crushing 3-0 whitewash from Colombia in their opening encounter with victory coming after the team rejected the food in their host hotel.

Veteran Bracksides Khadambi recorded 23 points, including five aces and four blocks that helped Kenya dominate 15-4 in blocks and 11-9 aces.

Triza Atuka contributed 15 to the victory while Mercy Moim and Violet Makuto each added 13.

Although Algeria tried to respond strongly winning the second set 23-25, Kenya managed to win comfortably the third and fourth sets handing Algeria their second  loss which might eliminate them  from the strife for the last ticket available to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Malkia Head coach David Lung’aho set aim for the crunch encounter against the hosts on Monday evening and was in high spirits after winning their second match.

“Today we played so well, we won our match against Algeria 3-1 which gave us three points and now we are tied with Colombia in the second position we are looking forward to our last match against the hosts Puerto Rico.

“We know it will be tough but nothing is impossible. I think we rectified our mistakes at least today (Sunday) we didn’t see fatigue, players are responding very well, our attacks were okay,” the team boss said after the game.

“I want to thank the players for being composed and we really need them to play the same level tomorrow (Monday) against tougher Puerto Rico. For us now most important thing is to ensure that we win the match and get six more spikes and we will have tied with Puerto Rico and probably Colombia.

“So it will depend on Sets Ratio and Scores Ratio on who will be the champions but we are happy because we played very well and beating Algeria which is also a very strong team is not that easy,” Lung’aho told citizen digital.

Captain Mercy Moim is also hopeful that they will win Monday’s match.

“After losing on Friday we decided to concentrate better and came in well focused and we will be focused for tomorrow’s match looking for the qualification to the Olympic Games,” she affirmed.

Earlier the players were forced to crisscross San Juan City- Puerto Rico in the middle of the night in search of MacDonald’s fast food joints after they rejected food offered by the host hotel.

“The food was too spicy, too salty and was also served in very small portions. The only food we were comfortable with in that menu was bread so we had no option but to look for a familiar meal at MacDonalds.

“At the same time we just don’t eat anything when on travel. We would prefer food we are all familiar with especially when we have crucial matches ahead of us,” the captain charged.

The team manager Martin Kimondo later raised concerns and the caterers agreed to change their diet by including more rice in the food served

The qualification tournament features four teams competing for one remaining slot for the volleyball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.