Brave Prisons chain rivals in Ndakaini

Kenya Prisons men and women’s teams left Murang’a County richer after they won their respective categories in the inaugural Nairobi Water Chairman’s Cup, at Ndakaini Stadium, yesterday.

Prisons men defeated Kenya Defence Forces in straight sets of 25-19,25-22,25-17 while their women’s team thumped Kenya Commercial Bank 3-0 (25-16,25-18,25-20) in the final.

Both teams pocketed Sh100,000, while the first runner-up was awarded Sh50,000, while third-placed teams got Sh25,000 each.

“That was a good performance from the girls as they are building more confidence against Kenya Pipeline. I am happy our strategy worked out in the semis as well as the final,” a delighted Prisons women’s coach David Lung’aho told the Standard Sports.

His men’s counterpart Gideon Chenje said: “We are slowly getting back to our form. This victory is a big motivation to the team as we aim to retain the national league title.”

On their way to the final, Prisons completed a double over rivals Kenya Pipeline after beating KPC A 3-1 (24-26, 25-16,25-16, 25-17) in the semifinals as KCB silenced KPC B by an identical score of 25-13, 29-27, 18-25 and 25-19.

In the men’s semifinals, national league champions Prisons Kenya saw off their Mombasa counterparts in straight sets of 30-28, 25-18 and 25-21 as KDF beat Nairobi Water 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22).

Kenya Pipeline coach Japheth Munala, whose two teams lost in the semifinals, was gracious in defeat, but blamed the fixtures’ timing for their untimely exit.

“It was challenging to have two semis involving my teams be played at the same time. The junior team missed motivation on the touchline and it really affected them psychologically, but we committed many basic errors against Prisons,” said Munala.