Kenyan teams hope to hang on to the title

 

National champions St Ignatius Mukumu, Dr Ribeiro Parklands and Kanyawanga carry the country’s hopes of winning boys’ handball title.

The trio will fly the county’s flag at the 16th edition of the Brookside East Africa Secondary School games that begin tomorrow in Gulu, Uganda.

After ensuring the national title returned to the Western Region, Mukumu are also expected to repeat the same at the East Africa games and return the trophy to Kenya.

Mukumu High School’s handball players after being crowned 2017 national champions when they defeated Dr Reberio. [Gideon Maundu]

The 2016 East Africa and national champions St Luke’s Kimilili were disqualified during the Western Region games thus losing the chance to defend their title.

However, after being crowned the region’s champions, Mukumu did not disappoint and battled to see Western hold on to the national trophy. The same is expected of them at the regional scene as the country hopes to secure their third East Africa handball title.

Mukumu are in Group A where they face hosts Kakungulu Memorial and Dynamic Secondary School. Adegi of Rwanda and ETS Kamenge of Burundi are also in the mix.

Dr Ribeiro are in Group B and will battle hard to advance to the knockout stages. However, they will need to be at their best against compatriots Kanyawanga, Uganda’s Kibuli and Gombe, South Sudan’s Juba Day and ES Kigoma of Rwanda.

In the girls’ contest, East Africa champions Moi Girls Kamusinga will put their title on the line with the hopes of a successful defence.

Kamusinga will be seeking to bounce back from their disappointing outing at the national that saw them relinquish their crown to St Anne’s Sega Girls.

Kamusinga coach Godfrey Simiyu is optimistic of a good outing and hopes his girls will get it right again.

“We were not at our best at the nationals because most of my players were debuting at the nationals. It was a learning curve for them and I believe they learnt invaluable lessons,” said Simiyu.

They are in Group B together with A.I.P Hanika of Rwanda, Bor Girls of South Sudan, Kibuli and Iganga of Uganda. Newly crowned national champions Sega will launch their campaign in Group A against Gombe, Mbogo High, Apega of Rwanda and St Francis Cheptarit of Kenya.