Fresh from qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kenya Lionesses are scheduled to play in the Dubai and Hong Kong Sevens tournaments.
The Dubai tournament is slated for December with the Hong Kong leg set for March and will double up as World Sevens Series qualifier.
Kenya lost to South Africa 15-14 in the Olympic Sevens qualifier final in Monastir, Tunisia on Sunday but will represent the continent after the South African Olympic Association withdrew their team from Tokyo 2020 extravaganza.
Tunisia and Madagascar will head to the repechage after finishing third and fourth respectively in the qualifiers, where they will play other regional qualifiers across the globe early next year.
This will be the second time the Lionesses are featuring at the Olympic Games, having made their debut in 2016 in Rio. Kenya only won one match, beating Colombia to finish 11th out of 12. In the pool stages, Kenya lost to New Zealand 52-0, France(40-7) and Spain (19-10) to drop to the classification matches
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) director of women's rugby, Moses Ndale, said they are planning to have the team play in four high-level tournaments as a build-up for the Tokyo 2020. “Two tournaments are not enough and we must feature in more events to make sure the girls are at par with other top sides during the Tokyo 2020," added Ndale.
He, however, noted that achieving that goal will depend on funding both from government and corporates. "If we get funding, then we can expose the girls to as many tournaments as possible in the countdown to the Olympics," he noted. The team is expected to arrive today from Tunisia.
Kenya beat Ghana 36-0, thrashed Botswana 49-0 and Senegal 36-0 in the pool fixtures. In the quarterfinals, the Lionesses edged Zimbabwe 36-5 and then defeated hosts Tunisia 19-0 in the semis.
A majority of the girls will play in the Safari Sevens this weekend for franchises and the team is expected to resume training in a fortnight ahead of the Dubai tournament.
