NAIROBI, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will be on the lookout to exploit any weaknesses against their European opponents when they line up in Catania, Italy for the Intercontinental Olympic qualifier tournament, which runs from Friday to Sunday.
Head coach Shaileen Ramdoo believes his main target will be to help the country return to the Olympics after an absence of over a decade, as Kenya last featured at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.
Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) president Waithaka Kioni has already given an ultimatum to the team to either secure their ticket to Tokyo 2020 (ending a 15-year absence) or the team will be disbanded.
"It will be a legacy I would love to embrace having the volleyball team to the event. It will be unfortunate if I lead a delegation to Japan but the sport I guide doesn't appear anywhere," Kioni, who will be the Kenyan head of Olympics delegation, said on Tuesday in Nairobi.
"The qualification process has already started and every federation is keen to qualify. If we miss winning in Italy, we will try at the Africa Olympic qualifiers in January," said Kioni.
Kenya faces World Championship silver medalists Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium in Pool F. Kenya can become the first African team to appear three times in the women's tournament at the Olympic Games.
Kenya finished in joint-11th place at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, failing to win a single match. In both cases, Kenya gained qualification as the continental representatives.
At the 2016 World Olympic Qualification tournament in San Juan, Kenya finished third behind Puerto Rico and Colombia and failed to qualify.
Africa's other team, Cameroon, will be in Uberlandia, Brazil to play against their hosts in the Intercontinental qualifiers. Brazil take on Cameroon and the Dominican Republic play Azerbaijan in Pool D on Thursday.
A total of 24 women's national teams are in action across six pools from August 1-4 with the pool winners progressing to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Pool D in Brazil is played over three days from Aug. 1-3, while the remaining pools begin on Aug. 2 and are completed on Aug. 3 and 4.
The men's Tokyo Volleyball Qualification tournaments take place the following week from Aug. 9 to 11.
