Technical Director Paul Feeney has named a strong 12-man Shujaa squad ahead of the 2019 Africa Men 7s that doubles up as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers. The tournament is set to take place on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th November in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The tournament features a total of 14 teams that are ranked as per last year’s results. Kenya is second after falling to Zimbabwe in the final held in Tunisia. Other teams are: Uganda, Madagascar, Zambia, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Namibia, Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
Andrew Amonde will Captain the side assisted by Jacob Ojee and Jeffrey Oluoch. 2018/2019 season star trio of Daniel Taabu, Johnstone Olindi and Vincent Onyala have made the cut to represent the Country at the qualifiers together with regulars Bush Mwale, Nelson Oyoo and Alvin Otieno. Oscar Dennis who last featured for Shujaa during the Asian tour makes a come back to the team joined by William Ambaka and Billy Odhiambo.
“We’re definitely looking forward to reclaiming the cup which we lost last year to Zimbabwe. This year’s tournament is equally important as it also turns out to be an Olympic Qualifier. It will be best for us to seal the Tokyo 2020 ticket while in Johannesburg as opposed to proceeding to the repechage. It’s every athlete’s dream to compete at the Olympics. The preparations have been ideal, I trust the best we’ve had in years and this was topped up by the Safari 7s win for the young lads. The preparations and playing and winning Safari 7s give us the momentum we just required to enable us to reclaim the trophy,” said Team Manager Erick Ogweno in an earlier statement.
Shujaa squad to Johannesburg:
- Andrew Amonde (C) 2. Willy Ambaka 3. Alvin Otieno 4. Bush Mwale 5. Vincent Onyala 6. Daniel Taabu 7. Johnstone Olindi 8. Oscar Dennis 9. Billy Odhiambo 10. Nelson Oyoo 11. Jeffrey Oluoch (VC) 12. Jacob Ojee (VC).
