KHU champs Telkom vow to reclaim Africa Cup title

Telkom have vowed to reclaim the Africa Cup for Club Championship title after their stranglehold of the continental competition was brought to an end last year.

The Kenyan champions had won five straight Club Championship titles before surrendering the title last year when they lost 1-0 to Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in Accra.

After claiming the domestic league with an unbeaten record, Telkom depart for Abuja on Thursday morning and head coach Jos Openda is confident they will bring back the title but remains wary of the threat posed by the West African teams.

“We are heading to Nigeria as runners up in the championships and our only target is to reclaim our trophy back and we are working towards that and that is why we are training till the last minute,” Openda told Citizen Digital.

Telkom were on course to winning a record 10th continental title before their dreams were shattered by home girls’ GRA who managed to exact revenge against Telkom who had beaten them to the 2016 crown in the championships held in Nairobi.

“GRA have been our main competitors in the tournament since we have met in the last four finals and it is only in the last edition that they managed to beat us. It is a good team but we are ready for them,” observed Openda.

Openda also acknowledged that they have learnt from the mistakes that cost them the title in Ghana and are now ready to roar again in the annual showpiece.

“Actually the scoring let us down because we had so many chances on that we did not convert then but this time we have worked on that and I am happy that the conversion rates of the girls has really improved,” said Openda.

The serial winners will represent Kenya in the championships alongside debutants United States International University (USIU) and will come up against defending champions GRA and their compatriots Ghana Police.

Also in the mix are home teams; KADA Queens and Delta Queens.

The tournament will also mark the end of an era as Openda is set to officially retire as the head coach of the side after a glittering career at the helm of Telkom.

“It is true that I am looking forward to that (retirement) but I will not be leaving any vacuum because for the last three years I have been grooming the likes of Judy Apioh, Jackline Atieno as my heirs. Furthermore, I will still be around only that I will be working behind the scenes and not as the head coach,” Openda averred.

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Telkom Kenya Hockey Union KHU

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