Jeruto, Sande, Siang’u axed from Malkia Strikers final Olympics squad

Kenya Prisons sensational attacker Meldina Sande, DCI's outside hitter Jemimah Siang'u, and KCB's libero Lincy Jeruto have been dropped from Malkia Strikers final squad for the 2024 Paris Olympic games.

The three were part of the Malkia Strikers squad that lost 3-0 to Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals of the Challenger Cup last week in the Philippines and were not lucky to be in Japheth Munala’s final squad.

Although not yet back at her top form yet, Chepchumba has done well to shake off a knee injury that threatened to scatter her Olympic debut dream.

The 25-year-old has been Malkia Strikers' most valuable player in the past three years, and her absence in the attack was felt when Malkia Strikers lost 3-2 to Egypt in the African Games' semi-final earlier this year. 

Kenya Pipeline's Leonidas Kasaya is the only player from the squad who will be making her second appearance at the Olympics after featuring in 2020's Tokyo Olympic Games.

The 13-member squad will be captained by Kenya Pipeline's middle blocker, Trizah Atuka, who took over the armband from Mercy Moim, who remains away from the national team.

Trizah will be assisted by Edith Wisa, who is the captain of the KCB volleyball club.

Atuka, former Lugulu Girls alumnus, will be hoping to captain the ten-time African champions to their first win in the Olympic games this summer after failing to do so in their last two Olympic encounters.

The 32-year-old Malkia Strikers regular saw her 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games debut vanish into thin air after suffering an injury and has since risen to become indispensable in the national team.

Malkia Strikers will leave the country this week for a two-week high-performance training in Miramas before heading to Paris for the Olympic games that kick off on 26th July.

Malkia Strikers are seeded in pool B alongside two-time Olympic champions Brazil and Japan and two-time Olympic bronze medalists Poland.