HOCKEY: Kenya to host IHF World Hockey League in September

Telkom Orange's Sharon Odinga (left) and Vikings' Charity Miller fight for ball in Vaiskhi 2013 Cup tournament finals at City Park Stadium. [PHOTO:FILE]

The Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) will host the first round of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Hockey League between September 2 and 7 at the City Park Stadium.

The event, which was initially to be hosted by Zimbabwe was switched to Kenya as Harare does not have facilities to host an even of such  a magnitude.

The event will see five men and four women’s teams battle it out for a spot in the round two to be held in Uruguay in July 2015. Five nations will take part in the event with the finalists of the world league series earning an automatic entry to the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Hosts Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania will field both men and women’s teams while Egypt will have a men’s team. KHU chairman Nashon Randiek said preparations for the tournament are ongoing and the union is working hard to ensure the national team qualifies for the second round.

“We are preparing well for the event as it is a great honour to be the hosts. We want to ensure our team qualifies at home for the second round,” Randiek said. In regard to the national team’s  poor performance in last year’s Africa Cup of Nations, Randiek said they have since rectified their mistakes.

“We have worked on our weaknesses after doing an evaluation on the team’s performance after the tournament,” he added.

The world league round one is open to all nations. Winners from all regions proceed to league two where they join nations ranked from 12-19 on the FIH world ranking. The winners of round two advance to the semi-finals where they will meet the world’s best in hockey who are ranked 1-11.

Meanwhile, the national men and women’s hockey teams, which have been training at City Park, are looking forward to earning the sole ticket to South America. Men’s national team manager Godfrey

Bila told FeverPitch:  “All players are in high spirits and gearing up for the big task ahead. We look forward to registering good results as we learnt from our mistakes at the Africa Cup of Nations.”

He said with the absence of the continent’s number one South Africa, Kenya has a better chance of winning at home. “South Africa have been a force to reckon wit but with them out of the way, we don’t have a reason not to win at home.”

South Africa men, ranked 12, will play in round two, while their women, who are seeded 11, will play in the semi-finals.

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