World Grand Prix rookies Kenya made their
debut at elite level in the 1991 World Championship, where they finished 12th.
They have since returned to the tournament on three occasions and competed at
the World Championship five times.
The Kenyans made their Olympic debut at the
Sydney 2000 Games and participated again at Athens 2004, finishing equal 11th
both times. Algeria proved to be their nemesis in 2008 when they eliminated
Kenya in their Olympic qualifying tournament. The same fate befell them in 2012
as the Algerians beat them to qualify as the sole African representative for
the London Games. Kenya have won the African Championship eight times and been
runners-up once. They claimed the gold medal at the All Africa Games in 1999
and took bronze in 2007.
One to watch at the World Grand Prix will
be lead attacker Mercy Moim, who became the youngest player to represent her
country in 2005 when she helped the team to African Championship glory. Since
then she has established herself as the side’s key player and has been voted
her country’s sports person of the year. |