Speedy Howe Cheetahs hunt down Ice Hockey league trophy
Unique Sports
By
Ochieng Oyugi
| Jan 10, 2023
Howe Cheetahs are winners of the second edition of the Kenya Ice Hockey League Friendship Tournament that ended at the Panari Hotel in Nairobi, over the weekend.
Dylan Ross, Rich Thoel and Fan Warrender each scored a brace for the champions who thrashed Kenyan side Ice Lions Maneaters 9-4 in the final.
Hussein Shah and Trevor Mwangi stood out for Kenya in the high-paced match.
Shah completed a hatrick as Mwangi slotted in the other goal for the determined Maneaters.
"Despite the loss, we feel good to have reached the final. We didn't expect to reach this far in the tournament due to the high calibre of teams involved," Maneaters captain Hanan Yunis told Standard Sports.
"We played the final as a team, everyone gave their best. Our shortcoming in the match was managing our paces. We were not so fast enough to counter the flawless opponents," she added.
Hanan said their focus now is to train for the forthcoming international outings in Canada and USA where Kenya has been invited to take part in several tournaments.
"This championship was an eye-opener. We are now going to mend the mistakes committed in this tournament before we depart for Canada and USA."
"We hope to play better and gain valuable skills during our visit to the North America countries. We also hope the tactics we will acquire will help us take our game to the next level," she added.
Cheetah's captain, Katrina Armstrong, was over the moon with the victory which granted them a gold medal.
"We won because of experience. Kenya kept pushing us to the wall. Personally, I'm very proud of my passes that were on point and these gave our strikers upfront a good chance to pump in the goals," Armstrong said.
In the bronze play-off, Howe Leopards whitewashed Ice Lions Pride 9-2 to win the one-sided tie. Mike Butinger sunk five goals for Leopards as Dan Riakionshi added a brace in their deserved victory.
The objective of the Kenya Ice Hockey League Friendship Tournament is to promote intercultural sports for peace, friendship and diplomacy.
The tournament was first held in 2019 and was won by Howe Hunters. The 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions did not happen due to the Covid-19 pandemic.