NAIROBI, May 29 (Xinhua)-- Kenya's junior girls and boys teams will now focus on the 2019 All Africa Games in volleyball after they were bundled out of the qualifiers for this year's Africa Youth Games.
Waithaka Kioni, the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) chairman said the team will not be disbanded but will continue to train together in a bid to get more experience and fight for medals at the premier continental games.
"Our team was young with no experience at the international level and we suffered the loss to Egypt. But they will learn from it and develop into a strong team for the All Africa Games," Kioni said on Tuesday in Nairobi.
Only three teams showed up in Kampala for the Zone Five qualifiers. Hosts Uganda, Kenya and Egypt battled for the one spot at the Africa Youth Games. Sudan and Rwanda pulled out of the competition citing financial constraints. Egypt's boys and girls teams will represent Zone Five in the Africa Youth Games slated for July 17-27 in Algiers, Algeria.
In other pools, Nigeria's teams booked their tickets to the 2018 Africa Youth Games following their victory in Zone 3 qualifiers held in Porto-Novo, Benin. The qualifiers featured two teams in each gender as Nigeria and hosts Benin took part in the tournament.
Other teams that will make the finals are Tunisia as well as Cameroon, representing Zone four. Zone two, Six and Seven are yet to stage their qualifiers.
