NAIROBI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenya hopes to break the duck and join the big league of champions in women volleyball as the World Championships starts in Japan on Saturday.
Kenya and Cameroon will be representing Africa breaking the dominance of North African teams. Head coach Japheth Munala targets winning two matches in the group stages to sail through to the round of 16.
"We are set for the championship and the underdog tag will help us triumph in Japan. At least I will only be focusing on the second round and once I achieve that then we can think of winning the title," said Munala on Tuesday.
The Kenya team, which has pitched camp in Japan for acclimatization, is in Group D and will play against giants Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Serbia, Puerto Rico and Kazakhstan.
Coach Munala, however, feels Olympic champions China will be the team to see the three week tournament.
"Kenya has a young team, but we lack the experience and technical ability to rule the World Championship," Munala told Xinhua in Nairobi.
"China's women volleyball team have won a major international volleyball title in each of the last three years. They are the team to watch," added Munala.
But history will count for nothing when the 24 teams arrive in Japan for the biggest competition in volleyball. Each of these teams found their own "road to Japan" through the qualification process, which started in August 2014 with the official announcement of the hosting country. The qualification campaign lasted until October, last year. Hosts Japan and champions USA were spared from the grueling qualification process.
The World Championship runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 20 in six Japanese cities with Yokohama hosting the semifinals and the finals.
