Uganda, Kenya tune up together for African Olympic Softball pre qualifier

Uganda, Kenya tune up together for African Olympic Softball pre qualifier
25/02/2019

World No. 30 Uganda defeated No. 48 Kenya, 2-1, in a three-game series played last weekend at the African Nazarene University in Nairobi, Kenya.

World No. 30 Uganda defeated No. 48 Kenya, 2-1, in a three-game series played last weekend at the African Nazarene University in Nairobi, Kenya. Both teams used the WBSC sanctioned event to prepare together for the African Olympic Softball pre qualifier, slated to be played in Pretoria, South Africa, in May.

Uganda took the first game of the series on Saturday, 15-6, with a complete game performance by Esther Nakabugo to claim the win.

On Sunday, host Kenya tied the series with a thrilling 12-11 victory, and extended the series to the third and final game. But Uganda clinched the winner-takes-all game by a score of 9-0. Nakabugo, a veteran of the 2016 World Championship roster, took her second win of the weekend, with four innings of work.

The African Olympic Softball pre qualifier will be held from 7-12 May in Pretoria, South Africa, and will be the first stage for the African nations in their road to Tokyo 2020. The top two teams in the continental championship will advance to the Europe/Africa Olympic Softball Qualifier to face the top six European teams. Only the winner of the Olympic Qualifier will be present in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Softball competition.

The Europe/Africa Olympic Softball Qualifier is slated to be played in Utretch, the Netherlands, from 23-28 July, and will be the first of the three Olympic Softball Qualifiers this year.

Kenya and Uganda had faced each other during the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship 2016 in Surrey, Canada, where Uganda beat Kenya, 9-2, in five innings, in one of the two wins for the Ugandan National Team in that tournament. Both nations made in Surrey their historic official debut in a softball World Championship.