Skipper Mercy Moim led from the front as Malkia Strikers ended their FIVB World Cup campaign on a high with a 3-1 (25-15, 26-24, 14- 25, 25-21) win over Cameroon on Sunday.
Moim topped Kenya’s scoring charts with 19 points followed closely by tournament revelation Sharon Chepchumba who had 18. The duo of Trizah Atuka and Edith Wisa were also impressive retuning 12 and 10 points respectively. Cameroon’s Christella Nana was the highest scorer in the contest against Kenya with 23 points.
It was the second win in two months against their West African rivals who they beat last month in the African Games final in Morocco. The win is the first ever by Kenya at the World Cup.
Meanwhile, China was crowned world champion after finishing top of the 12-team table standings in this competition with a hundred per cent record.
USA, Russia, Brazil, and Korea finished second, third, fourth and fifth respectively while Cameroon was last.
USA, Russia, Brazil, and Korea finished second, third, fourth and fifth respectively while Cameroon was last.
Besides the game against Cameroon, Kenya – under coach Paul Bitok – struggled throughout the remaining assignments and couldn’t manage even a set against Serbia, Dominican Republic, Netherlands and South Korea.
“We still have a lot to do (to compete) and that’s what the results indicate. We will try to improve and our next focus is to prepare for the Olympic Games qualifiers,” said Kenya Volleyball Federation president Waithaka Kioni.