The national men's beach volleyball team recorded mixed results against Nigeria during the opening day of the CAVB Continental Cup-cum-2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualifiers.
The pair of Ibrahim Oduor and James Mwaniki succumbed 2-0 (21-16,21-16) to the West African, a big blow to their chances of progressing in the tournament.
However, youngsters Brian Kelly and Enock Mogeni were on their best behaviour, overpowering the second Nigeria pair 2-0 (25-15, 21-13), just as coach Patrick Owino had predicted.
In another match, Mozambique hammered Mali 2-0 (21-14 and 21-9).
Women's coach Sammy Mulinge said his charges will have to take maximum points from their matches but is keen to take one game at a time. Kenya are in Pool 'B' alongside Nigeria, Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"Our first mission will be against Cape Verde and win with good points. We want to take every match with a lot of caution. All the teams are good and that's why they have made it to this stage," Mulinge said.
"Many of our players have no exposure and therefore every game is a good platform to learn something. We must take maximum points in the group stages."
The final phase is single elimination according to pool ranking.
Meanwhile, sets of 21-10, 21-13 put Gambia off to a flying start in the women's edition.