Kenya Sevens Shujaa faced a disappointing outcome at the World Rugby Sevens Series in Singapore on Saturday.
Despite initially leading with a 14-12 score in the first half, they eventually lost to France with a final score of 26-19 in their Pool “C” match.
In another closely contested game, Kenya’s spirited effort fell short as they were defeated by the United States of America (USA) with a score of 21-19.
In their last pool match, Kenya suffered a defeat to Uruguay with a score of 33-17, which resulted in them slipping to the ninth-place quarter-final. Uruguay, on the other hand, secured their second Cup quarter-final this season after rebounding from an earlier loss to France by defeating USA with a score of 24-21 before defeating Kenya. This added to Kenya’s recent woes, as they had previously failed to win any matches in Hong Kong.
France, who remained unbeaten in the pool stage after drawing 26-26 with USA in their last match, advanced to the Cup quarter-finals alongside Uruguay.
Kenya now faces Canada in the ninth-place quarter-final at 5.50 am on Sunday, while the USA will be up against Spain at 6.34 am.
In the other ninth-place quarter-finals, Japan will take on Hong Kong at 6.12 am, and South Africa will go up against Ireland at 6.56 am.
Despite defeating Hong Kong 31-12 in their Pool “A” match, South Africa’s losses to Australia and Series leaders New Zealand with scores of 19-0 and 12-7 respectively, resulted in them dropping to the ninth-place quarter-finals as well.
Kenya had hoped to secure a spot in the main Cup quarter-finals in Singapore and Toulouse Sevens in order to avoid relegation playoffs that will take place in the 11th and final leg of the Series in London.
The top 11 teams after the 10th leg of the Series in Toulouse will remain for the 2023/24 World Rugby Sevens Series, while the 12th, 13th, and 14th teams will compete in the relegation play-offs along with the winners of the 2023 Challenger Series.
The team that finishes in 15th place will be relegated, and the winner of the Challenger Series will earn the 12th spot in the 2023/24 World Rugby Sevens Series.
Kenya entered the Singapore leg of the Series ranked 13th, behind Spain in 11th place with 40 points and Uruguay in 12th place with 39 points.
Canada is currently ranked 14th with 22 points. With Uruguay now advancing to the Cup quarter-finals, they are likely to swap places with Spain, who also dropped to the ninth-place quarter-finals.
In the Cup quarter-finals in Singapore, Uruguay will face Samoa at 7.18 am on Sunday, while Argentina and Australia will battle at 7.40 am. France will go up against Fiji at 8.02 am, and New Zealand will take on Great Britain at 8.24 am.
