BATTLE FOR HONOURS: Olympic, St. John's and Laiser Hill in big wins as Airtel games start

metropolitan region airtel rising stars Bibian John, left, of Kikima High School in Makueni County and Nairobi County, Olympic's Sharon Khasandi during Metropolitan Region Airtel Rising Stars Term Two Championship finals at Machakos School on Saturday, July 11, 2015. PHOTO/ JONAH ONYANGO.

Everything went according to plan as this year’s Airtel Rising Stars National Games got underway yesterday at various venues in Machakos.

It was a dream start for Laiser Hill Academy as they demolished Simotwo High School 4-0 on their path to their maiden national gong.

The Metropolitan Region representatives led 2-0 at the breather, as strikes from Kennedy Owino and Flavious Chalma gave them the advantage.

Simotwo’s Mark Kemei deflected into his own net as the Mau Region representatives fell further behind. Moments later, Chalma landed his brace for the full time result.

In another match, Coast Region representatives Waa Secondary began their quest for national glory with a 2-1 win over Aberdare’s Passenga in a Pool B fixture.

John Avire and Rashid Kigwe scored for the coastal side, while Victor Mwangi scored Passenga’s consolation.

“This is a good start for us. We are going to take each match at a time and with concentration, I believe we will be in the final on Saturday,” Laiser Hill Academy’s head coach Anthony Kirimi said.

Former Airtel Rising Stars national girls’ football champions Olympic Mixed School and last year’s first runners up St John’s Kaloleni of Coast Region began their title hunt on a flying start too.

Olympic from Metropolitan Region gave debutants Kirigara of Highlands Region a rude welcome after they won 8-0 in their opening Pool A match.

On their part, St John’s also playing in the same pool, eased to a 3-1 win over Nzoia Region’s Wiyeta High.

Queenter Atieno of Olympic was the star of the match as she scored a hatrick, while Sharon Adhiambo and Faith Kwamboka scored a brace each for the 2013 national champions.

Faith Atieno added another goal to give the Metropolitan champions a good start at this year’s games.

In the other match, Mwanhalima Adams gave St John’s Kaloleni the lead in the 26th minute with a killer-shot that beat Wiyeta’s goalkeeper Jacklyne Jepkemoi at her near post.

Wiyeta ensured parity as Judith Msimbi’s header in the 37th minute equalised matters with both sides aqual at halftime.

St John’s, who lost 2-1 to Butere Girls in last year’s national final, confirmed their intentions in the competition after Diana Akinyi scored twice. Lethal striker Adams was confident of their success this year.

“We played well and scored some beautiful goals and this gives us morale going into our next match. We believe this our year and we want to win the title,” Adams said.

In volleyball, there were no shocks either.

National defending champions Malava Boys and Kwanthanze Girls began their title-retention campaigns on winning notes.

Kwanthanze effortlessly beat St John’s Kaloleni from Coast Region 3-0 (25-20 25-10 25-13) in their opening Pool A match.

On their part, Nzoia Region’s Malava also triumphed 3-0 (25-18,33-31,25-18) to subject Coast to another defeat and this time Mivumoni High were the casualities in this Pool A match.

National and East Africa Secondary schools champions, Kwanthanze, were stretched in the first set by their Coastal opponents, but dug deep and took the first set with captain Teresa Akai and setter Beldine Akinyi being the stand-out players.

The Machakos-based school upped their tempo in the second set as St John’s Kaloleni only managed to score 10 points. Kwanthanze completed rout after winning in second and third sets to move to three points in the pool.

In another Pool A match, 20-time champions Lugulu Girls also got their run on the go with a 3-0 (25-13 25-16 25-20) win over Lake Region’s Sega Girls.

Aberdares Region champions Tetu High effortlessly cruised to a 3-0 (25-16,25-19,25-22) in a boys’ Pool A tie to secure crucial points.