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African Queens to play Cuba in opening World Cup match


Kenya will play Cuba in their opening match of the FIVB World Cup. The match is primed for the Yoyogi National Stadium’s First Gymnasium in Tokyo on August 22, which is the opening day of the competition.

This is according to the draw and fixtures of the competition released by the International Volleyball Federation on Tuesday.

The African Queens qualified for this international competition last week, after winning the Women’s Africa Nations Championship in Nairobi last week.

The team which is handled by David Lung’aho will represent Africa at the event alongside Algeria, who finished in runners up in the continental tournament.

OLYMPIC GAMES BERTH

The competition rules dictate that each of the 12 qualified teams will play against each other on a round robin basis, with the overall winner crowned world champion, and top two teams getting automatic qualification for the Olympic Games next year in Brazil.

Kenya will also play the Dominican Republic, Russia, Argentina, USA, China, Algeria, South Korea, Serbia and Peru in that order, in the other matches lined up.

The two-week event will be hosted in Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Matsumoto, Okayama and Kamati.

Kenya is hoping to win its first ever match at the competition, following an unsuccessful campaigns in the last two editions of the competition in 2011 and 2007.

Of immediate importance to the team however is the FIVB Grand Prix which begins this week in Mexico.

The team was expected in Moterrey, Mexico on Wednesday night following a 24 hour journey from Nairobi.