This archive report was first published on 20 August 2019.
On Monday, August 19, 2019, at St Constantine's International School grounds, Kenyan hockey teams made a strong statement in the East Africa Secondary Schools Games.
Ritah Opit, the stand-in-captain of Nyamira Girls Secondary School, made a string of saves to help her team beat Lindi Secondary School from Tanzania 5-0.
Kenyan girls' hockey teams, St John's Kaloleni Secondary School and St Cecelia Misikhu Secondary School, also registered easy wins, setting the stage for a possible podium finish for all three Kenyan teams in the discipline.
St Cecelia Misikhu hammered Old Kampala from Uganda 4-0, while St John's Kaloleni defeated Juhudi High School from Tanzania 5-0 in another match played earlier at the same venue.
Kenyan boys' hockey teams also proved their might, registering easy wins with Friends School Kamusinga sounding the boards five times to dispatch Juhudi, while champions St Anthony's Boys Kitale rocked Lindi Secondary from Tanzania 3-0.
"It looked easy for us from the start but our opponents gained confidence and improved in the last quarter giving us very nervy moments," Opit said after the match.
Kenyan swimmers delivered the country's first gold at this year's games, with the boys' and girls' teams winning both team titles to maintain their dominance in the sport since its introduction in 2014.
The boys' team garnered 545 points, while the girls recorded 531 points to scoop top spot with a total of 1150 points. Uganda was second with 1019 points, with Rwanda placed third with 278 points ahead of hosts Tanzania, who finished fourth with 144.
