Fresh from winning silver with Kenya Kabaddi team, Samuel Wafula is optimistic that the national team has the potential to perform well at the international level if they get the support.
Speaking after returning from Bangladesh after they won silver at the concluded Banga-Badhu Cup Tournament said the team will perform to the top and win gold when they compete at the Kabaddi World Cup as well as World Kabaddi Masters with both championships to be staged in Doha.
“We are heading for two international championships and if we get good support, we will perform well since as players, we are determined for greatness,” said Wafula.
Kenya lost 34-28 to hosts Bangladesh for the title during the finals after beatuing Sri Lanka 36-234 at the semifinals.
“As a player I am so delighted that as a young team we played good matches against top teams in the world, ending up with silver. Every time I play with the team, we learn something new and that has propelled us to the top,” said Wafula.
He said that the skills gained will guide both him as a player and the national team to secure better results in future and become a powerhouse of Kabaddi.
“We were confident in our matches despite the normal challenges Kenyan teams face but we gathered our strength with the aim of coming home with a title,” said Wafula.
“Kabaddi is not all about long experience but skills learned not how long one has played. Kenya has a strong team despite the sport being introduced recently. We needed skills and tactics for the win as we used to learn new skills after every game,” he said after landing in Kenya at 7am.
Kenya lost the first and second matches, losing to Sri Lanka 33-35 and Bangladesh 32-19 before beating Nepal 20-26 and Poland 52-19.
Following the two wins, they qualified into the semifinals where they beat Sri Lanka in a revenge mission 37-36 to make it to the finals and lost to Bangladesh at the finals.
“We lack exposure in Kenya because there are no professional players but once we get there, trust me we shall be on top of the world. Imagine our president is the same person as our manager, meaning we need more in the sport,” said Wafula, the former football player turned Kabaddi.