This archive report was first published on 15 September 2021.
On April 6, 2021, Vilma Achieng Owino of the Kenya Ports Authority Basketball team trains at the KPA Gymnasium in Mombasa.
As the 2021 women's AfroBasket tips off on Saturday in Cameroon, Kenya Lioness forward Vilma Achieng is ready to help her team emerge victorious. The KPA star player expressed her confidence in a recent interview with the Standard Sports.
Kenya is in pool A alongside hosts Cameroon and Cape Verde. Despite missing the services of influential Felmas Koranga, Vilma Achieng remains unbowed ahead of the games.
Speaking to the Standard Sports, Achieng said, "Our main focus is competing better than our predecessors." She referred to Kenya's best performance at the championships in 1993, where Lioness reached the finals, losing to winners Senegal.
"No pressure. I doubt if there is pressure but u know as human nature we would want to achieve more not only being the Zone champions but also Africa which is our next target," Achieng added.
The Lionesses bagged the automatic Africa Zone V ticket by stunning heavyweights Egypt 99-83 in the final in Kigali, where Reynolds emerged the Most Valuable Player.
Kenya's last AfroBasket outing in Dakar in 2019 was a disastrous one, as the Lionesses did not win any match. Achieng says the team has put that display behind them.
The Kenya Ports Authority forward said the team is drawing inspiration from their men counterparts, Kenya Morans, who narrowly missed the quarterfinals of the men's AfroBasket in Rwanda but with a goal of doing better than them.
"We understand people no longer take Kenya as underdogs anymore and that's why we are preparing well for stiff competition," echoed Achieng.
