Men handball team grabs Africa Games slot

National men handball team qualified for the 11th edition of All African Games (AAG) after white-washing Burundi in the qualifiers on Friday evening in Addis Ababa, Ehtiopia. The team emulated Kenya's women's team, who qualified for the continental games to be held in Brazzaville, Congo later in September.

This is the fourth consecutive year the women’s team has qualified for the continental showpiece. Kenya easily dismissed Burundi 37-16 to maintain their unbeaten run in the qualifiers.

The homeboys were superb from the first whistle, as they registered a 17-5 lead at half time. On resumption, they picked from where they left and launched attacks at will, to win the crucial encounter.

Thodosia Sangoro, who also trains regional and domestic championships Nairobi Water, was the top scorer in the match with six goals.

Elvin Otieno was on target five times, while Nicholas Ireri scored four times. Victor Oduor, Paul Ondara and Rogers Arunga found the back of the net three times each in the team’s huge victory.

For Kenya, this was an easier tie, compared to their preliminary match against Uganda, who were no easy pushovers, even as the Kenyans won by just four goals (27-23).

On their part, Uganda laboured to defeat the hosts 31-28 and settle for third place, as Rwanda finished fifth. Burundi defeated Ethiopia 25-23 to top group A, while it was easy passage for Kenya in group B.

With the two wins, handball is the only national team sport that has qualified for a continental showpiece. The football team was eliminated by Egypt last weekend.

The teams will now turn focus on the preparations. The women’s team finished seventh in the 2011 edition in Maputo, Mozambique, while men’s team was ninth out of the 12 teams.

Team manager Charles Omondi, who is also the Kenya Handball Federation fixtures secretary, heaped praises on the teams for improved performance, saying that the only key to good performance is early preparations.