Kenya Sevens began their return to the World Sevens Series in imperious form, beating Chile 12-5 to win the Dubai Challenger Series tournament on Sunday.
In a tense final, speedster Patrick Odongo scored a brace to go give Kevin Wambua’s charges a winning start in the three-leg series.
The Daystar Falcons winger gave Shujaa the opening try after a searing burst of pace with co-captain Tony Omondi slotting home the conversion.
Chile regrouped and dictated possession and territory and scored an unconverted try. Wambua’s charges had opportunities to score but a catalogue of unforced errors prevented them from adding to their tally to narrowly lead 7-5 at the break.
Upon resumption, both sides threw everything into attack but it was Odongo who showed his quality midway through the half to score at the corner with Omondi missing the extras.
Shujaa then held onto their slim lead to take the trophy and will now carry the momentum to the next leg in Uruguay in March.
Odongo had bagged a hatrick in the 21-5 semifinal win over Uruguay while Chile had stunned tournament favourites Germany 15-7.
Kenya edged Japan 21-19 in a tense quarterfinal on Saturday with Odongo, Nigel Amaitsa and Samuel Asati scoring a try each.
Shujaa had lost their final pool match on Saturday, going down 24-12 to Germany.
Wambua was delighted with the win after three intense days of sevens rugby.
“Excellent performances from the boys, across the board. They put in a tough shift, played for each other and were clinical both on and off the ball, from attack to defence,” said Wambua.
“We will celebrate the win, follow it up with some rest and recovery and then get back to work for the next tournament.”
It was, however, heartbreak for the Kenya Lionesses, who lost 19-5 to China in the women’s final.
The Asian outfit atoned for the 17-12 opening-day loss to Kenya by controlling possession and territory.
The Lionesses had a stellar run to the final, beating the Czech Republic 22-12 in the quarters and Argentina 17-0 in the semis.
