Oshwal Academy Nairobi and Kivaywa Boys High School are Kenya’s girls and boys badmintonrepresentatives in the East African School Games to be held in Lira, Uganda next week.
The games run from Sunday to September 1. Oshwal, with a girls team, and Kivaywa (boys) will be eyeing to make history as the first ever winners in the discipline, which is making its debut.
Oshwal qualified after beating Butere Girls 3-2 that also saw them win their fifth national title in as many years in Embu.
By winning the national titles the teams also got tickets to the Africa Schools Championships to be held in Pretoria, South Africa later in the year.
The girl’s team comprises of captain Deepali Kotecha, Hetvi Haria, Dhruvi Shah, Darshni Kotecha and Khushboo Kotecha. The team is under Coach Martin Kanyange who is confident that they will do well in Uganda.
“It is the first badminton tournament in the school games and our first attempt. We intend to win and be the first to have this title to our name,” said Kanyange.
Speaking about the potential opposition in the regional games, Kanyange said: “We expect tough competition especially from Ugandans but we have prepared well and we expect to excel.”
Kivaywa Boys qualified after a 3-2 win over Kisumu Senior School at the national level also in Embu.
The team is made up of captain Sammy Sikoyo, Patrick Obwate, Edwin Akwanyi, Jackson Misiko, Martin Ooko and Calvin Linani. The team is coached by George Opunga who believes they will do well in the competition.
“We have been training intensely and the boys are in good form. We hope to win this title, the boys are very confident that we will finish in the medal bracket,” said Opunga.
The two teams from Kenya will be up against teams from Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and hosts Uganda.
They will play their round robin matches on Monday targeting to accumulate points. The teams left for Uganda yesterday and will use the event as preparation for the Africa schools championships.
By ELIZABETH MBURUGU, The Standard