Shujaa grab bragging rights against Uganda to book semis ticket in Uruguay Challenger
10th March 2024
Shujaa need only two more wins to win the Uruguay Challenger Series outing.
- Shujaa secured a narrow win over Uganda to advance to the semis.
- They are now scheduled to play Hong Kong in the cup semifinals at 10:02pm on Sunday.
- Should Kenya overcome Hong Kong in tonight’s semifinal, they will face the winner between hosts Uruguay and Chile in the final.
The men’s national 7s team, Shujaa, narrowly edged past familiar rivals Uganda at the ongoing HSBC Challenger Series in Montevideo, Uruguay to book a place in the semifinal.
Both teams scored a try in the first half with the Ugandan one coming courtesy of Philip Wokorach who missed the resultant conversion.
Kenya got theirs through a penalty try awarded to the team that ended up getting the job done.
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Shujaa are now scheduled to play Hong Kong in the cup semifinals at 10:02 pm Kenyan time on Sunday, March 10.
Meanwhile, Uganda will square it out with Germany in the fifth place play off slated for 10:59 pm.
Speaking after the hotly contested clash, Shujaa skipper Vincent Onyala acknowledged how their fixtures against Uganda is usually difficult.
“The boys have outworked their efforts and we thank God for the results at the end of the day. Playing East Africans is normally a fight.
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Back at home we have something called the Elgon Cup where we normally fight between the two countries,” he commented.
The 2019 Kenya national sevens circuit most valuable player added that their focus now shifts to recovery as they await to play in the semis as he urged fans to continue supporting the team.
“To our fans we plead with them to grow with us. The team is growing bit by bit and the results are positive at the end of the day. Gratitude to them for keeping the game alive and making sure the game grows,” Onyala said.
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Should Kenya overcome Hong Kong in tonight’s semifinal, they will face the winner between hosts Uruguay and Chile in the final.
Chile made it to the semis after walloping Germany 12-7 while Uruguay progressed to the next round thanks to a 26-7 victory over Portugal.
Shujaa emerged victorious in the first round of the HSBC Sevens Challenger Series that was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in January and will be seeking to add another title to their name.
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