Divas name squad for African Netball tournament

Makau dropped five players from the 20 members who have been fine tuning their skills in residential training at the Nyayo Gymnasium in the last two weeks.

Captain Parin Simiyu leads the Divas squad that will jet out on Saturday ahead of the two championships which tip off from November 1 to 16 at the Israel Patrick Iyambo Police College Olympia in the Namibian capital.

Shooter Lydia Nyapere and midcourt Irene Anyango have earned their first call ups to the national team. Other notable inclusions are seasoned shooter Bridgit Nanzala and ever-green defender Florence Ndombi.

The Pent Series which was launched in 2017 and which will double up as the next year’s Commonwealth Games qualifiers will run from November 1 to 5 and then pave the way for the Africa Cup scheduled for November 10-16 in the same venue.

The seven-team tourney, which will be played in a round-robin format, will feature hosts and defending champions Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya.

Makau is upbeat the squad he has named will give him good results.

“Despite Kenya being lowly ranked compared to our opponents I think we can pull a surprise because the squad is strong compared to past years. We’ve trained well and now it’s time to show the world what we’re made of,” he told Citizen Digital.

Kenya opens the championship against hosts on November 1 before taking on Zimbabwe and then Zambia.

Divas are currently ranked 39th in the world, Uganda seventh, Zimbabwe 12th, Zambia 15th and Namibia 24th.

In the 2019’s Africa Netball Championships held in South Africa, Divas managed only one win against Lesotho, their first win in 16 years.

Divas Final Squad

Defenders: Parin Simiyu, Grace Etyang, Terry Othuon, Florence Ndombi, Ramadhan Pauline

Midcourt: Elsa Ndong, Irene Anyango, Laura Mulupi, Mary Atieno, Nancy Auto

Shooters: Beatrice Wanjiku, Christine Nekesa, Bridgit Nanzala, Lydia Nyapere, Lucy Atieno

Technical Officials: Joseph Makau- Head coach, Peninah Nyakundi-Assistant Coach, Arne Bett-Team Manager, Ebby  Sitawa-Doctor