体坛英语新闻：African women clubs championship set to begin in Kenya

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The African Women's Volleyball Clubs Championships will kick off in Nairobi on Thursday with three local clubs tipped to be the main contenders for the trophy.

Led by the defending champions, Kenya Prisons, the host nation will also be represented by previous winners Kenya Pipeline; last year's losing finalists, as well as Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) that lifted the crown in 2006.

Stellar from Cote d'Ivoire were the only visiting side that had not arrived by Wednesday prior to the draw as organizers bid their time awaiting the team for the event that will end on May 20.

The skipping of the event from Egypt and Tunisia, the other powerhouses of the women's game besides Kenya and Algeria has seemingly made the path for the host sides to claim the solo ticket to represent the continent at the Club World Cup in Qatar set for August.

Daring Club Motema Pembe and Canon Ndjini (DR Congo), Stef Auto (Madagascar); Chlef (Algeria), DGSP (Congo Brazaville), FAP (Cameroon), Rwanda Revenue Authority (Rwanda), Manga Sports and Varieties (Gabon), Nkumba University (Uganda), Water Sports (Ethiopia), Blue Eagles (Nigeria), Jeshi Stars (Tanzania) and Mafolofolo (Botswana) are the other visiting sides in the competition.

Speaking on the eve of the tournament on Wednesday, Kenya Pipeline skipper, Lydia Chege, rallied her team to overcome the disappointment of losing last year to Prisons.

"Losing last year was bitter and returning to the World Cup is the main thing motivating us as we prepare to reclaim the title. We hope to be pooled with difficult teams since it works well for us in the later stages," she said.

Her coach, Japheth Munala who was formerly in charge of KCB shared her optimism stating that his side had been boosted by the return of Kenya internationals, Rhoda Liali and Asha Makuto who starred at last year' s FIVB World Cup.

"We are however, not taking any team for granted though we feel we are stronger this year but I hope we will not play Kenyan teams so early in the tournament," he added.

Paul Gitau, who is in charge of KCB, the home side labelled as the least potent, acknowledged winning the tournament would be beyond his young side though he had reason to feel upbeat on the prospects.

"My team needs time to blend and mature and I hope they will learn a lot from this event but I will take each game as it comes," he noted.

Having replaced traditional giants, APR, the Rwanda Revenue Authority side?is coming to Nairobi keen on stamping their mark to make most of their continental foray.

"We want to prove that we are among the teams to watch out for and I assure you we are here to fight," their head coach Jean Luc Ndayikengurukiye said.