Kenya's hockey boys inch closer to recapturing East African crown

Musingu Boys celebrate after beating St Anthony's Kitale during Kenya Secondary Schools sports Association Hockey finals Term One games in Machakos County. April 13, 2024. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

After playing second fiddle to Uganda, Kenyan boys may reclaim the title that has eluded them for the past two years.

This is after former East Africa holders St Anthony's Kitale, national champions Musingu High School and St Charles Lwanga qualified for Saturday's semis.

The Kenyan boys will be looking to secure an all Kenyan final as this year's Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSSA) games enter day seven here in Mbale, Uganda.

Kenyans will face St Charles Lwanga who beat last year's winners Kangulu Memorial and their Ugandan counterparts Kyadondo Secondary School in their Group B encounters to oust them from the championship.

Their exploits saw them top the pool with six points same as St Anthony's and Kakungulu who finished second and respectively. The three teams were separated by the goal difference.

St Charles will will lock horns with Uganda's Ntare Secondary School who finished second with five points two less than Musing in Group A.

Ntare now shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that Kenyans who are eyeing a clean sweep don't snatch the trophy.

Going into today's tie St Charles captain Paul Mkunzi said that they will be out to secure victory and remain on course to winning their maiden East Africa title. "So far so good, but we still haven't achieved our objective. Just like every team here we want to win the trophy but must overcome the semis hurdle first," Mkunsi said.

En route to the semis, St Charles bounced back from a 1-2 loss to edge Kangulu 1-0 in their second tie.

Yesterday, they drubbed Kyadondo 4-0 to reach the semis. There will be no love lost when rivals St Anthony's and Musingu meet in the second last four clash. St Anthony's will be out to avenge their 2-3 loss to Musingu that denied them the national title in April this year.

In the girls hockey contest, national champions Tigoi, Nyamira Girls and St Joseph's Kitale lead the round robin race.

In boys basketball, former East Africa champions Laiser Hill Academy sealed their semi-finals slot after beating Tanzania's Juhudi Secondary School 66-46.

In football, Musingu High School beat Rwanda's APE Rugunga 2-0.