Nairobi Water back from brink, aim for handball glory

Nairobi Water player train at Gymnisium, Nyayo National Stadium on Tuesday, Oct 18, 2016. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

National women's handball champions Nairobi Water have kept alive their dreams of lifting the Africa Club Championships trophy at the Palais des Sports in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Despite losing 31-22 in their opening match against TKC of Cameroon and 40-19 to defending champions Primero of Angola, the three-time league champions are back from the brink. Faced with an imminent elimination from the tournament, they defeated Bandama from Ivory Coast 26-24 and with that, booked a quarter final slot from Group B.

The two-time East and Central club champions lost 38-26 to Asel from Congo Brazzaville in their last preliminary match on Monday night.

This is the second time Nairobi Water have qualified for the quarter finals in the continental show. They first qualified for the last eight in 2014 in Tunis, Tunisia.

Head coach Jack Sandan says the journey in this year's campaign has been tough, but he is happy with what they have been having. To him, his focus in on proceeding to the semifinals.

"We qualified for the quarter finals after defeating Bandama, but had we won our match against ASel, it could have placed us at a good position in the group. The quarter final will not be an easy affair considering we will play against experienced sides," he said.

Parings for the quarterfinals were to be held last night. Nairobi Water, who are the only club in Kenya to have participated in the continental championships, have shown much improvement in subsequent years. In fact, most of its players also feature for the national team.

Founded in October 2010, Nairobi Water have improved from last year's performance, after they failed to go past the preliminary stage in Rabat, Morocco.

Other teams that have qualified for the quarter finals from group B include champions Primero, Asel and TKC. Bandama were bundled out after they lost three consecutive matches in Group B.

All Group A teams made the cut. They are Fap of Cameroon, Mikishi from Democratic Republic of Congo, Aspac of Benin and hosts As Onea.