Lionesses captain Grace Okulu and Shujaa captain George Ooro Japolo pose during the captain's run at the LA play offs
Shujaa grabbed their ticket in style with a 24-5 hammering of the Canadians, while Lionesses edged African rivals South Africa 17-14 in the women’s finals to grab their ticket.
Shujaa started the match with lighting speed taking a 12-0 lead courtesy of Anthony Mboya’s double tries in the 1st and 3rd minute converged by Nygel Amaitsa.
Vincent Onyala’s touched down while Amaitsa completed the extras to see Kenya extend their lead to 19-0 at the breather.
Kenya buoyed by hundreds if Kenyan fans in the Los Angeles state, USA maintained the high tempo with Onyala completing his brace for a 24-0 score line before the Canadians managed a consolation try through James Thiel.
Kevin Wambua’s men exerted their revenge on the Canadians who beat them 12-7 in the relegation play-off final during the London Sevens on 22, May, 2023 to see them relegated from the world sevens series.
Kenya started their campaign with a 12-19 loss to Samoa, followed by a 26-14 victory over Portugal, before suffering a 17–12 loss to hosts USA in their final Pool A clash at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles.
Shujaa joins the USA and Uruguay in the newly structured sevens Division II for the upcoming season.
In the women’s side, the Lionesses registered one win
and two losses in the pool phase, to finish third in their pool. Kenya fell
33-14 to Spain suffered a 28-10 loss to Brazil, before narrowly edging Colombia
7-5.
The results saw Dennis ‘Ironman’ Mwanja’s charges book a playoff final date with continental rivals, South Africa in a high-stakes clash. Freshia Adhiambo starred for lionesses as they edged their rivals 17-14 in the finals.
“The victory was not only emotional but historic, I’m so overwhelmed with the results. The girls really worked hard for this, and we will use Division 2 as a platform to get to the HSBC international stage. We are just beginning.” Said Lionesses Captain, Grace Okulu.
They face Brazil, Spain and Colombia in Pool A as China, South Africa. The sevens series will adopt a new three-division format starting next season.
Division 1 will feature eight men’s and eight women’s teams competing in six high-profile SVNS Series events.
Meanwhile, division 2, comprises six teams per gender, battling it out across three events. Division 3:
A standalone Challenger event featuring eight teams per gender, who qualify through regional competitions.
The season will culminate in a sevens World Championship Series, featuring the top 12 men’s and women’s teams, eight from Division 1 and four from Division 2, competing in three blockbuster events to determine the world champions.
