Unbowed by Olympic heartache, Mwanahalima eyes Cecafa glory

National women’s football team, Harambee Starlets, sensational striker Mwanahalima ‘Dogo’ Adam says she is unbowed despite her team crashing out of the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers race.

The forward is upbeat Starlets will bounce back in style and stamp authority at this year’s  Cecafa Women’s Senior Challenge Championship primed for November 14-23 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Speaking to the Citizen Digital, the Thika Queens goal poacher regretted how Starlets bowed out of the qualifiers but was quick to shift focus to the upcoming Cecafa tourney.

“We tried our best to reach the fifth round but luck was not on our side because Zambia was too strong for us and we failed to secure a win in the first leg. All in all I thank everyone who supported us more so the fans who really did a good job.

Our focus has shifted to Cecafa title and I’m optimistic that we will do well in Tanzani. Our Olympics qualifier race exit could be a blessing in disguise,” she averred.

Starlets’ dream of gracing the next year’s Games went up in smoke on Tuesday after losing 1-0 (3-2 on aggregate) to Zambia’s Shepolopolo in the return leg of the penultimate round at Nkoloma Stadium, Lusaka.

The David Ouma coached side jets back tomorrow before heading to Tanzania where they will launch their title hunt in Pool B against Ethiopia on November 15 and subsequently face Djibout and Uganda in other preliminary matches.

Starlets finished fourth in the last CECAFA edition in Kigali, Rwanda compared to a better performance in the maiden edition in 2016 where they proceeded to the finals and lost 1-0 to Tanzania.