Brave Cameroon Fall To Kenya In Olympic Qualifier

Africa Champions Cameroon on Tuesday found the going tough in a five set game against Kenya at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports (Paposy) Arena in Yaounde.

The Lionesses twice fought to level the scores a 2-2 before losing the tiebreaker as the East Africans triumphed 26-15, 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11 in the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers.

Both teams entered the match anxious to pick the first set but it was Kenya who started the match on a positive note winning the first set 26-15.

Initially, Estelle Adiana appeared to be finding joy with consistent attacks from the left but the Lionesses failed to put an impressive score against the Kenyans in the opening set.

However, a tweak in formation by coach Jean Rene Akono to deploy centre player Christelle Nana and Henriette Koulla worked to cut off Cameroon as they achieved a two-point victory in the second set.

The Lionesses then faded in set three but were able to capture the fourth set to push the match in a tiebreaker where they found Kenyan duo of Sharon Chepchumba and Mercy Moim unstoppable however much Adina and Akono attempted to block them.

Cameroon now has seven points from three matches having beaten Nigeria and Botswana on straight sets while Kenya, on the other hand, has eight points after handing other defeats to Egypt and Botswana.

The Lionesses can only qualify if Kenya fail to pick maximum points against bottom-placed Nigeria on Thursday.