Cheptil and Rusumo start with victories
After their opening victory, national volleyball champions Cheptil are optimistic of bagging the Brookside East Africa Schools’ title which they narrowly lost last year to Rwanda.
Cheptil clashed with hard fighting Tetu in their Pool “A” match defeating them 3-1 in an encounter that attracted a huge crowed in Eldoret.
Cheptil
went down 20-25 in the first set but put their act together to win the nect three 25-18, 25-21 and 25-22 for the win.
In pool “B”, five-time national champions Malava edged out debutants Sengera 3-0 (25-20, 25-23 and 25-10 )in another all Kenyan clash at Eldoret Polytechnic while St.Mary’s Kitende and Buremba from Uganda clashed
for a 3-0 (25-9,25-8,25-22) win in favour of St.Mary’s.
East Africa defending champions Rusumo of Rwanda who beat Cheptil in the final last year are also itching for the title after defeating compatriots Lycee De Nyanza 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-14) in the afternoon encounter.
Last year’s finalists Cheptil and Rusumo are attracting huge crowds. The home team is hoping to capitalise on the support to bounce back to the regional bonanza.
Cheptils’ tactician Daniel Kirwa target is to top the pool matches in order to position themselves for the title hunt.
“Our target is to win all our pool matches and advance to the next level. If we top we will have a chance to meet with the second placed team in the other pool and it will be an advantage for us,”Kirwa said.
According to him, Rusumo and St.Mary’s Kitende from Rwanda and Uganda respectively are very strong and it needs a tactical game.
“They are very strong after I observed them play other teams but we are skilled for the fight. We must win at home since it will be the only reward for our fans,”Kirwa added.
But Rusumo’s coach Serugo Christophe is also reading from the same script of defending the regional title.
“The team is well composed and ready to defend the title. We know Kenyan teams are very competitive but last years’ victory gave us the motivation and we are good for it,” Serugo said.
In the girls category, AIC Kosirai will meet Soweto as Lugulu face St.Anne’s Sega while St.Alloys of Rwanda clash with Kinawa of Uganda with the regional champions Indagaburezi also in the race for the title hunt.
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