This archive report was first published on 2 August 2019.
Italy Dominates Kenya in Olympic Qualifiers ¶
On Friday, August 2, 2019, Italy handed Kenya a rude welcome to the Olympic qualifiers with a straight sets victory in the opening match of the Group 'F' Inter-continental Olympic qualification tournament in Catania.
The hosts, Italy, had beaten Kenya by a similar margin in their four previous meetings, and they left nothing to chance as they dominated from start to finish in this tie that lasted less than an hour.
A spirited display from the Malkia Strikers in the opening set was blotted by their weakness in reception, which Italy star Paola Egonu exploited with a hat-trick of aces after the first technical time out of the first set.
Italy went on to score at will to clinch the first set 25-17, and there was no respite for Kenya as the Italians showed their class in the second set with a resounding 25-10 win.
With only pride to play for in the third set, Kenya coach Shaileen Ramdoo made four changes, but it could not prevent Italy from carrying the day.
Earlier, Netherlands had blanked Belgium 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-22) to set up a potential group decider with Italy on Sunday.
The matches are being played in a round-robin format, with the winner in each of the six qualifying groups punching their tickets to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Should Kenya fail to qualify in Catania, they will battle it out for the single slot reserved for African countries in the continental qualifiers slated for January next year.
Upcoming matches include Netherlands v Kenya at 7:00 pm and Belgium v Italy at 10:15 pm.
