Kenya Lionesses winger Sinaida Aura in action during training as Philadelphia Olando watches. Photo/RAYMOND MAKHAYA
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 23 – National Women’s Sevens winger Sinaida Aura is hopeful Kenya will one day play in the prestigious IRB Women’s Sevens World Series after proving to the world at last weekend’s Africa Cup Sevens where they qualified for 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Kenya Lionesses went down 17-12 to South Africa in the final hence missing out on the 2018 World Cup slot but Aura who had an outstanding performance in Tunisia says that is now behind their back and they are preparing for the Commonwealth Games that will be hosted in Gold Coast, Australia.
Speaking to Capital FM’s Saturday Music and Sports show, Aura who always stands out with her magnificent performance whenever Lionesses play is confident the team will soon qualify for the HSBC Sevens World Series after reaching the quarters at this year’s qualifiers.
“We will one day play in the Women’s World Series because we have what it takes to play in that competition. This year we will not definitely be there because we didn’t make it when the qualifiers were held in April though we played well,” Aura said.
L-R Sinaida Aura, Alex Isaboke, Lionesses Team Manager Camylaine Oyuayo and Paul Odera.
Aura, who scored four tries against Morocco to aid Lionesses storm the semi-finals, recalls the team’s overall performance saying they were determined to break the three-year jinx against South Africa but they fell short because of in experience.
“I have personally moved on from the loss against South Africa but I can say that they also felt our presence. We nearly beat them because we were leading at the break but their experience worked for them,” Aura stated.
“We picked a lot of lessons that we will apply as we prepare for the Commonwealth Games where we will meet South Africa once again aiming for revenge.”
Sinaida Aura at Capital FM studio.
Team Manager Camylaine Oyuayo praised her charges for the performance through she underscored their main target was to grab both the Commonwealth Games and World Cup slots.
“In our game against Tunisia when we were held 7-7 at half time in the semis, we told the girls that they were only one place away from the Commonwealth Games and that motivated them a lot,” Oyuayo told Capital Sport.
“Against South Africa we told the girls they were one place away from the World Cup and they gave it their all but it didn’t go our way. We will now prepare for the Commonwealth Games,” the Team Manager noted.
