2006
Women's World Championship:
Kenya Drops Two Key Players from World
Championships Team
Nairobi,
Kenya, August 22-: Turkey based left
attacker Violet Barasa who is the only
professional player in the Kenyan women
national team currently preparing for
the coming World Championships in Japan
and right attacker Asha Makuto have been
dropped.
As the national team intensified its
preparations for the world event at
their camp in Karura, Japanese born
veteran volleyball coach Sadatoshi
Sugawara who is handling the Kenyan team
was forced to drop the two key players
after they failed to pass medical
fitness test.
While Makuto was in the team which
helped Kenya win the recent Malta
Guinness sponsored Four Nations
Tournament which brought together Egypt,
Cameroon and Nigeria, Barasa was left
out after being found to be unfit for
the tournament.
After the Four Nations Tournament, coach
Sugawara recalled Barasa to give her
another chance of making the team but
she failed to match the rest in camp
prompting the coach to drop her which
means Kenya will be traveling to Japan
without a professional player in the
team since the current squad is made of
schoolgirls and local based players.
“The sort of training the team is
undergoing ahead of the World
Championships is so vigorous that only
those who are medically fit will make
the final squad to Japan,” said Sugawara
at the team’s training camp.
The Japanese tactician who is being
assisted by local coaches David Lung’aho
and Paul Bitok said due to time factor
he was not going to call any more
players to the team as any of the 17
players in camp are capable of switching
positions and taking over from Barasa
and Makuto who have been regular players
in the team and have participated in
Olympic Games and World Championships.
Among those who are likely to take
Barasa’s position are veteran Telkom
Kenya pla
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