The reigning women’s champions, Nairobi Water Queens, secured a dominant victory over Rangers with a final score of 33-15 in a highly anticipated Kenya Handball Federation league match held at Nyayo Stadium. Despite Rangers’ reputation as the team that previously ended Water Queens’ undefeated streak of 11 years, they struggled to keep up, trailing 15-10 at halftime and failing to mount a comeback.
Gladys Chilo, the captain of Water Queens, expressed satisfaction with their opponents’ efforts in the first half, indicating that such challenges motivate their team to perform at their best.
“With our level of fitness, we can maintain the pace all through the game (60 minutes) and that works for us,” she noted.
She went on: “In the first leg, Rangers took advantage of our challenges and that worked for them.”
The inspirational Chilo noted that four of their players were not present in their previous loss against the same team.
“Today, they all went to work. Remember, it’s not how you fall that matters but how you rise after the fall. So we are ready to defend the title.”
Cecilia Katheu led the scoring for Nairobi Water Queens with nine goals, followed by Gladys Chilo with seven, Marina Andala with five, and Gail Eucabeth with four. Meanwhile, Rangers managed to score four goals through Juliet Juma and three goals through Sheila Amodig as they aimed for a top-four finish.
In another match, Strathmore University held a halftime lead of 15-11 against Black Mamba and went on to win 28-18. Mori Odhiambo contributed nine goals, while Eshiton Situma added eight for the university team.
On the men’s side, Rangers suffered a defeat against the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) with a score of 36-33. Gideon Baraga led TUK with eight goals, supported by Polycarp Rakama with six goals. Dalmas Wanyonyi scored six goals for Rangers, while Yusuf Pwoka added five.
Young City secured a narrow victory over Trans Nzoia with a score of 27-26. Saulo Mwanichi led the scoring for Young City with nine goals, followed by Moses Okoth with six.
In other matches, Strathmore University narrowly defeated Rangers 28-27, with Mike Lotiam scoring seven goals. Wakanda won two games, defeating the Technical University of Kenya 39-33 and Boomerang 35-32, with Mubarak Ismael contributing 11 goals.
Finally, Desert Scorpions emerged victorious over Rangers with a score of 33-31, with Calvin Maanzo and Stephen Wanyama each scoring seven goals.
