Hockey: Daunting task as Kenya battle hosts Uruguay

Kenya Flavia Mutiva (l) as Ghana Elizabeth Opoku blocks the ball when they played World League round one at Citypark ,Nairobi. Kenya won 1-0. ON 06/09/14 PHOTO: JENIPHER WACHIE

The national women's hockey team faces an uphill task as they play hosts Uruguay in the quarter-finals of the ongoing International Hockey Federation (FIH) World League Two in Montevideo today.

The Kenyan girls lost to world number 17 Azerbaijan 5-0 to finish at the bottom of group B, thereby booking a quarter-final date with pool A top finishers Uruguay.

This will be the second match for Kenya as they did not play their first two matches - one against Trinidad and Tobago and the second against France.

This is a must-win match as the competition is now in its knock-out stage and a loss will lock Kenya out of main title contention. Kenya's failure to play their two matches saw them finish the group stage without a point.

Faridah Mammadova, who was the star of the match, scored a hat-trick in a match that the Asians dominated from the first minute. She announced her team's intentions to win in the sixth minute through a field goal. Seven minutes later, she converted a penalty corner for her second goal.

 

THREE WINS

Lyubov Dhruzhinna scored their third goal in the 28th minute, Anastasiya Tsyganska made it four seconds later. Mammadova beat Kenya's goalkeeper Cynthia Onyango for the third time in the 34th minute to seal her hat-trick and help her team make three wins out of three matches.

The Kenyan girls composed themselves in the second half to contain and keep away the goal-hungry Azerbaijanis.

In other matches, France trounced Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 to finish second in pool A and book a quarter-final tie with Mexico who finished third in pool B. Mexico suffered a 5-0 beating at the hands of hosts Uruguay in their last group encounter.

Italy will take on Trinidad and Tobago in another quarter-final match. Italy finished second in group A with seven points. Trinidad and Tobago were third in Group B with three points courtesy of Kenya who handed them a walkover.

Bottom in group A, Dominican Republic take on the tournament's top-ranked team and pool A winners Azerbaijan in the last quarter-final match.