Kenya Lionesses hopes of a third appearance at the Olympic Games went up in smoke after losing 24-7 to China in the repechage final in Monaco on Sunday.
Dennis Mwanja's charges were no match to the highly skilled and intelligent Chinese outfit who outscored them by four tries to one in an entertaining duel.
The Asian outfit took command early to land the opening try courtesy of Chen Keyi with Gu Yaoyao slotting home the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Kenya regrouped and after some neat interplay between the two Japanese-based players Grace Adhambo and Janet Okello, the latter scored a centre post try which Adhiambo converted to level the match at 7-7.
From the resultant kickoff, China regained possession and went through several phases of play that saw Keyi scoring a second try for a 12-7 lead at the interval.
On resumption, China stepped up a gear, denying the Lionesses territory and possession to seal the win with tries by Sun Yue and Yaoyao to close out the match and send the Asian to the Paris Olympics.
In Paris, they will join New Zealand, Australia, USA, hosts France, Great Britain, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Fiji and Japan.
The Lionesses defeated the Czech Republic 12-10 in the semifinals and eliminated Argentina 15-12 in the quarter-finals.
The Lionesses will prepare for the Africa Cup Sevens in September and the Safari Sevens in October.
