Malkia Strikers claim historic win in Japan

Belligerent Kenya national women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers, picked their first ever win in the World Championship after thrashing Kazakhstan by straight sets on Saturday at the Hamamatsu Indoor Arena, in Japan.

The nine-time African champions who are making a return to the global fiesta after a eight year hiatus clinched the win in sets of 25-23, 25-22 and 21-25 as the global fiesta served off in six cities at the Asian state.

Captain Mercy Moim, the team’s wing attacker posted a stellar performance registering a match-high 24 points in the win over the Kenya’s higher ranked opponents.

The Kenyans displayed greater energy and togetherness throughout the contest ,while Kazakhstan was unable to sustain any rhythm and Kenya came up with key points when they needed to time after time during the tie.

Prior to the match, Kenya had lost all her 21 matches in the last five World Championships outings and it will be a big boost for the Kenyan queens on their quest to reach the second round of the three-week championship.

On Sunday at 1:20pm Kenyan time, Malkia will face Serbia in the second Pool D tie with the latter edging Dominican Republic in straight sets to open their campaign for the title on flyer .

Malkia will subsequently face Puerto Rico on Monday before finishing their preliminary matches against former champions Brazil who downed the former 3-0 sets win their opening match.

The Japeth Munala coached must win another match to qualify for the second round of championship which has attracted 24 teams.

Meanwhile, in Yokohama Indoor Arena Cameroon made history by becoming the first ever African team to win a match in World Championship after beating Mexico by 3-1 sets in Pool A opener.

The African champions downed the latter with sets of 25-17,23-25,16-25and 21-25 ending their 10 run straight defeats at the World extravaganza.

Elsewhere, The United States began their defence of their title with a hard-fought 3-0 victory over a powerful Azerbaijan.