Atuka: Malkia must deliver in France and Cameroon
Malkia Strikers vice captain Trizah Atuka has challenged the team to record better results in the Challenger Cup and the Africa Nations Championships to stand a chance of qualifying to the Paris Olympic Games 2024.
The last batch of the national women's team players was flagged off on Saturday at the Nyayo Stadium by Sports PS Peter Tum, ahead of the month-long high-performance training camp in Morocco.
The first batch of 12 players left the country on Tuesday following the announcement of a Sh15 million one-and-a -half year sponsorship deal with Mozzart Kenya Limited.
From Morocco, the Mercy Moim-captained side will head to Laval, France for the eight-team Challenger Cup competition set for between July 27-30.
The Kenya Queens will then move to Cameroon for the ANC scheduled for August 5-18.
"There's no shortcut to achievement but we have to deliver at all costs," Atuka said.
"The team is in good shape. The players are psyched up. We know that these two championships are very important especially for us in qualifying to the Olympics next year. We have to take the matches seriously and this calls for effort and teamwork from all of us," she added.
There's no direct ticket for an African team to qualify to the Olympics.
Malkia, being the only team in the continent that enjoys support from the International Volleyball Federation FIVB, will have to accrue as many points as possible in France.
The record Africa champions must also regain their continental title to put themselves in the driving seat for the Paris sole slot.
Malkia have lost the last three editions of the Nations Championships to Cameroon. BY THE STAR

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