Kenyan Chess chairman Bernard Wanjala is optimistic that Kenya Chess Team will win medals at the All Africa Games set for Rabat.
Kenya will be banking on Mehul Gohil, Joyce Nyaruai, Sasha Mongeli and Ricky Sang to win medals for the country following the consistency in the both Kenyan championships as well as world Olympiad championships.
“This year’s team is so strong than any other because all of them were picked from Kenya Academy,” said Wanjala.
He said that the team is well prepared for the championships and gave a surety of coming home with gold among other medals.
“We are dealing with a seriously prepared team. They are doing very well in the training camp and the spirit will be emulated at the championships,” added Wanjala.
Gohil won back to back national titles before he was stripped the title this year. He has also competed in four world Olympiad championships like Turin, Azerbaijan Among others across the world.
Same to Joyce Nyaruai who was a double Kenyan ladies champion in 2017 to 2018 before her title was won by Gloria Chumba.
Apart from her winning national titles, she has also represented the country at the World Olympiad Games
Sasha Mongeli who attained the higher Women Fide Master (WFM) title during the World Chess Olympiad held in Batumi, Georgia is another player to bank on.
Mongeli, the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) student was also awarded the player of the month. The 21-year-old made her debut at the biennial event and she achieved the feat with two rounds to score, scoring eight wins out of nine games was one of the best in the Olympiads and the highest percentage score by a Kenyan in the Olympiad’s history.
She also gained a Women Candidate Master (WCM) title during the 15-day event before upgrading to the WFM.
The fourth player is Ricky Sang who gained into Kenya team last year at the world women Olympiad games. The morocco team will be his second outing for the nation