Kenyan hockey hopeful of Olympic qualification

Nairobi, Nov 23 Wycliffe Momanyi, Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Secretary General, believes the country's team will deliver a solid performence at the Africa Games, which will be held in October 2019 in Casablanca, Morocco.

The Africa Games will serve as the qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics and Momanyi is adamant Kenya will clinch the single slot reserved for the continent, reports Xinhua news agency.

"There are top teams like South Africa and Egypt, who have dominated the African hockey scene. But you can never rule us out. This youthful team showed their ability when they ruffled feathers at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires and they are ready to step up and raise Kenya's flag high at the Olympics," Momanyi said on Friday.

Momanyi underscored the need to compete at the highest level as a motivating factor for the growth of the sport, adding that the future of the game lies in the youth.

"We are keen to build our team from the youths who represented us in Argentina. If we managed to qualify for the Youth Olympics then it means with a little help from sponsors and government, we will conquer Africa and make it to the Olympics," he added.

Momanyi believes the easiest process to make the trip to Tokyo 2020 will be through the Africa Games in 2019. 

"The continental games will offer Kenya the easiest route. We intend to explore this path and [we are] hopeful [that we will] have our team back at the Olympics after over two decades," he added.