We are far from ready, Senge says of squad ahead of Olympic qualifiers

Kenya men’s national hockey team head coach Meshack Senge has raised concerns regarding his team’s preparedness for the 2020 Olympic qualifiers scheduled take place in South Africa from August 12 to 18.

Speaking after a 3-1 win against Indian based club, Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Sunday at the Sheikh Union Club in Nairobi, Senge said despite being victorious he still needs to tighten the team ahead of the crunch qualifiers.

“We have tried to experiment with SAI, and it has been a confidence boost for us but we are not yet there in terms of preparations, we still need to work more before we leave for the qualifiers,” said Senge.

Senge is confident that the national team will perform if they can improve on their weaknesses.

According to the long serving hockey coach, set piece executions, out letting, counter control and managing of turnovers are some of the areas which the squad has to polish before they can board the plane to South African for the qualifiers, expected to be fiercely fought.

“The results are positive and encouraging but we still have to work on other areas so as to perform well, and we hope to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” he charged.

Kenya is in Pool A together with Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa while Pool B has Egypt, Ghana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The team jets out on August 10 for the assignment ahead of the opening match with Uganda on August 12. Thereafter they’ll take on South Africa a day later before wrapping the group matches with a tricky looking fixture against Nigeria on August 15.