CAXIAS do Sul, Brazil, May 12 – The national women’s handball team will be out to contest for bronze in the 2021 Deaflympic Games ongoing at Caxias do Sul.
Kenya, who had a good start on a leading note, went down 31-8 to Denmark and will now be fighting for the third-place playoff.
Kenya played well in the first half, forcing Denmark to commit errors but they did not convert their chances, seeing the Kenyan technical bench to call for the first technical time out with the scores being 5-3 infavour of Kenya.
On resumption, Kenya were faulted for a penalty that was scored by the Dannish ladies and that was their tuning point.
Denmark went to the half time leading 16-5, and when the second stanza returned, Kenya, who finished one less, could not match the pace and energy.
“My girls lacked endurance, especially in the second half, but they really tried because being their first time competing in the Games and facing the defending champion it is not easy,” assistant coach Caroline Kusa said.
Captain, Timinah Baraza was equally impressed with her team’s performance.
“My girls really tried and played well, but we were slow because the ball we played with had glue and we did not practice with it back at home, but nevertheless, Denmark is a strong side and we have learnt a lot from them,” Timnah underscored.
-Men finishes 6th –
Meanwhile, their men counterpart finished 6th overall after losing 18-26 to Denmark.
“This is a great achievement considering the opponents we played against, Denmark is a handball nation, we were playing a strong side, the boys have given their best and they have learnt a lot, next time we will start early preparations,” men’s head coach Peter Mwanthi said.
