Top seed Krisha Ghia to defend title in Dar es Salaam

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Top Kenya national junior badminton player Krisha Ghia will this weekend represent Kenya in the 35th East African Lohana Sports and Cultural Championships in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Fresh from the 2018 BWF World Junior Championships in Canada, where Kenya was ranked top in Africa, Ghia will be seeking to defend her title she won two years ago when the championships were held in Kisumu.

The 15-year-old Kisumu-based player made history as first junior to win a senior event when she won the Nyanza Open and All African School Championships.

She also won in the Kenya Secondary Schools Championships and will lead the Kisumu team in search of glory in Tanzania from Saturday.

Kisumu badminton team, which is trained by former Kenya badminton number one Victor Odera, is composed of defending champion Krisha Ghia, 17-year-old Akshay Rach and 13-year-old Darsh Ghia.

Victor Odera said he expects Kenya to bring the gold medal home in the badminton category since they have been winning during local tournaments.

“The team is in a splendid form and no one can match their scores now. 2018 has been a good year for the team as they also performed well in international championships,” Odera said.

Kenya will be represented by teams from Nakuru, Nairobi and Kisumu. They will compete against teams from Uganda and Tanzania.

The championships will also include swimming, football, darts, marathon, tennis and throw ball.