Tanzania football and basketball teams started on a sound note and fired warning at the on going East African Military Games played at various venues in Nairobi, Kenya.
Two late goals from Ayub Kitala and Sheila Makula savage Tanzania to a 2-0 win against Burundi as they jumped to the top of the football table standings at the games.
The win earned Tanzania three points, two more than Kenya and Uganda who played out to a thrilling 2-2 draw on the same day. In basketball, Tanzania’s men team edged Burundi 59-55 in a close contested match staged at the Kasarani Gymnasium.
The match was halted for almost ten minutes following a power failure. In athletics Tanzania’s Jackline Satailu upset the odds to finish in second position on 27:47.6 in the women’s 8km race in which hosts Kenyan teams posted easy victories.
The Kenyan women’s and men’s squads maintained their dominance in athletics field events, sweeping all but one of the podium places in the women’s 8km and men’s 12 km races to win the overall title at the Kahawa Barracks.
Kenyan Sela Chepleting’ assumed the lead at the 4km mark and held on to win in 27min, 40.4 sec in the 8km, while 5,000m Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Ines Chenonge came third in 27:53.6. Lucia Kameme (28:02.6) and Gladys Chemweno (28:0.1) finished fourth and fifth in the race.
The hosts were dominant in the men’s 12km race at the same venue, grabbing the top five positions. World Military Games two-time gold medalist, Mark Kitoo, easily won the race in 32min, 28.5sec. Reuben Limaa was second with a 35.34.1 timing, whereas Peter Matelong settled for third place, clocking 35:39.3.
In netball, Kenyan women ran riot, humiliating a hapless Burundi 114-6 in a one-sided affair played at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. “This was a dress rehearsal for Tanzania and Uganda who will offer us a tough test, but we will be ready for them,” team captain, Corporal Brigid Nanzala Nyongesa, said after the match.