Lionesses go hunting for Olympic slot

Past action between Kenya and Brazil in the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, in Hong Kong. [AFP]

Kenya Lionesses have a perfect chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games for the second successive time when the Africa Sevens-cum-2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifying tournament kicks off on Saturday at the Mustapha Ben Jannet Stadium in Monastir, Tunisia.

Lionesses, who lost all their group matches at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, arrived in North Africa yesterday afternoon beaming with confidence and ready to defend their continental title.

And with the South African Sports Confederation & Olympic Committee (SASCOC) having ruled out sending a team to Japan for the global showpiece, even if they win this weekend’s tournament, Kenya stand a chance of making it to Tokyo.

Instead, South Africa’s Springbok women’s team will only compete to earn a ticket for the World Series Rugby Sevens Series qualifier event as SASCOC’s internal rules do not permit them to qualify for the Olympic Games directly from the African Regional Qualifier tournament.

In 2016, Kenya represented the continent at the Olympic after SASCOC withdrew their women’s team from the tournament despite beating the Lionesses 31-5 in the final.

While the winners of the two-day competition will qualify directly to the Tokyo extravaganza, the silver and bronze medallists will have another chance by competing in a global repechage tournament to be held in June 2020. 

But for Lionesses coach Felix Oloo, he is not concerned with South Africa’s ‘withdrawal’ instead he wants his team to fully focus on retaining the title they won in Botswana last year.

“We are not taking any chances because South Africa haven’t ‘pulled out’. That’s a hoax. Those are dirty tricks we won’t buy,” Oloo told Standard Sports on phone from Tunis.

“We want to take each game at a time. Let the girls go out there and play with the same focus and mentality we had before leaving the country.”

Kenya headline Group A that has Senegal, Ghana and Botswana, while South Africa will battle with Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Hosts Tunisia are in Group C together with Morocco, Mauritius and Madagascar.

The first and second-placed teams will be able to participate for the World Rugby Sevens Series qualifier tournament.