Kaimosi Friends University head coach Bruno Ilote described the resilience of his hockey women team that qualified to play into the semifinals of the ongoing Kenya University Sports Federations (KUSF) National Play-offs at the Kenyatta University Grounds.
On the penultimate day of the championships, Kaimosi, in a rare show defeated Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) on Saturday evening quarterfinal.
“We have been called underdogs at the play-offs but our resilience has paid off by whipping our able opponents, who were favourites coming into the match,” said Ilote.
The two teams played out to a barren draw before Kaimosi won 3-2 in flicks.
“It was a tense moment for the team but we had to chill and stayed focused to earn the slot and tomorrow, we have a task that is stronger. However, we want to overcome that and qualify to the finals to carry this title home,” said Ilote.
Former champions the University of Nairobi defeated Egerton by a solitary goal, KU shining 5-0 over Karatina in other women hockey quarterfinals.
At the same time, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) men were the biggest winners in men’s section, beating Masai Mara University 4-0.
Paul Ochieng, Charles Ashiundi, Ian Sirengo and Malak Masese were on target for the kakamega based university.
In other quarterfinals, Egerton beat Kenya College of Accountancy 3-1 and Strathmore winning with a solitary goal against United States International University (USIU).
Handball champions KU and Daystar in men and women have two steps in retaining their titles after making it to the semifinals.
The hosts will be playing the Unoversity of Eldoret in men’s first semifinal before Strathmore take on Daystar in the second semifinal.
KU defeated Meru 16-13 as Strathmore were 21-18 winners against Rongo before UOE beating Machakos 21-20 and Daystar winning 22-18 over Kisii.
In women, champions Daystar play former champions MMUST in the first semifinal then KU play Machakos.
Daystar were 17-13 winners against Maseno, MMUST beating Embu 18-04, KU winning 21-10 over UOE and Machakos shing 13-09 against Egerton.
Selected results and disciplines
Netball Quarters
Men
- KU 26 – 10 Meru
- Kisii 30 – 27 DeKUT
- Maseno 17 – 14 Tharaka
- SPU 12 – 38 UoE
Basketball quarterfinals
Men
- USIU 59-36 Embu
- Kabarak 32-31 JOOUST
- Strathmore 36-28 Muranga
- ANU 55-53 MKU
Women
- USIU 71-17 UOE
- Strathmore Kisii
- JKUAT 42-23 Maseno
- Zetech 49-11 Muranga
Handball
Women
- MMUST 18-04 Embu
- Daystar 17-13 Maseno
- KU 21-10 UOE
- Egerton 9-13 Machakos
Semifinals
- MMUST vs Daystar
- KU Machakos
Men
- UOE 21-20 Machakos
- KU 16-13 Meru
- Strathmore 21-18 Rongo
- Kisii 18-22 Daystar
Semifinals
- UOE vs KU
- Strathmore vs Daystar
Hockey results quarterfinals
Men
- MMUST 4-0 Masai Mara
- UON (2) 1-1 (0) Chuka
- Egerton 3-1 KCA
- Strathmore 1-0 USIU
Women
- Kaimosi (3) 0-0 (2) JKUAT
- Egerton 0-1 UON
- KU 5-0 Karatina
- Strathmore vs MMUST