Oriental team fights back to floor NBK at Interbanks games

Absa Bank Kenya tug of war team women's captain Christine Andenga leads her charges in the on-going Interbak Games. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

2024 Kenya Interbanks Games darts runners-up M Oriental Bank rallied from behind in the finals to clinch the tournament’s title at the KCB Sports Club, Ruaraka on Thursday.

M Oriental Bank edged out National Bank of Kenya (NBK) 2-1 to secure the title in the bank’s second-ever appearance in the games.

Joyce Mbaire darted the decisive last dart for M Oriental Bank to clinch the banking industry’s top darts sports honours.

During the finals, NBK got off to a flying start where the duo of captain Veronica Mwangi and Sharon Saina beat Oriental’s Dorothy Allando and Mary Thiru 3-0.Oriental Bank recovered to win in the second match where the duo of captain Phylis Kaiganaine and Joyce Khavai pipped NBK’s Rebecca Maingi and Caroline Osiro 3-2.

In the last and decisive match, Oriental’s combination of Emily Aguko and Joyce Mbaire overwhelmed NBK’s Wilkister Ziyeri and Esther Mwandawiro 3-1 to seal victory and lift the cup.

In the semi-finals, Oriental beat defending champions Absa 2-0, NBK beat Diamond Trust Bank by the same margin to book a place in the finals.It was sweet revenge for Oriental Bank as Absa had beaten them to the title in the finals last year. In a post-match interview, Oriental Bank captain Kaiganaine was over the moon with excitement attributing the win to proper preparation and support from the bank’s management.

Kaiganaine who represented Kenya in the recently concluded African Continental tour in Nairobi said that their victorious team’s focus will now shift to the Kenya Darts Association national league assignments. NBK captain Veronica Mwangi said despite the loss, she was satisfied with the results for a team that was taking part for the first time.