Kenya Ice Lions were crowned the champions of the 5th edition of Madaraka Day Cup held yesterday at the Panari Hotel Ice Rink in Nairobi.
The champions defeated Team World 9-5 for the title where Captain Benjamin Mburu led the scorers chart alongside Denis Lumumba who all bagged a brace.
With goals from Mburu and Lumumba, other goals were scored by Abdulwahab Ngamate, Mike Otieno, Arnold Mburu and Trevor Mwangi.
But the visiting Team World shone through Merk Senruk who notched a hattrick while Erin Das and team skipper Jukka Korhonen.
After victory, Mburu said that the team unity and strength is what granted them the glittering cup for the first in history.
“We are happy with this huge margin of victory. It is indeed a very big moment for Kenya, as this is our first ever Madaraka Day Cup which we are thrilled to comfortably nestle in our cabinet,” Mburu underlined.
“The secret to lifting this trophy lies on the intensed preparations we had for weeks ahead of this crunch fixture. We practiced man-marking, furnished our skating techniques, and improved on our skills ahead of the tournament. We are happy they paid off,” Mburu highlighted.
“The season ends in a month’s time, but we are looking for more tournaments, more playing time and more international outings in the coming season, starting with the Africa Cup that is set for South Africa.
“Madaraka Day Cup was the second international tournament that Kenya was hosting this season, after the Friendship League in January.
“We are also looking forward to the Jamhuri Day clash in December against international opponents.”
While admitting their loss to Kenya, Team World captain Korhonen from Finland said they are going to regroup, and train hard to reclaim their glory in the Jamhuri Day Cup.
“We assembled the best arsenal for the Madaraka Day Cup, unfortunately we could not find the back of the net as we had hoped for, we are now going back to the drawing board to analyse what did not work out. We hope to return stronger and better for the December showdown,” the Finn stated.
“Kenya is a wonderful country, with lovely people, I love the fascinating Safari,” he added.
Meanwhile, three Kenyan women players have received an all expense paid trip for a high profile exchange program to Canada, courtesy of former Canadian professional player Soraya Tinker,in collaboration with the Black Girl Hockey Club- Canada.
The Kenyan trio namely Chumbana Likiza, Carol Joseph and Hanaan Ali, are set to travel to Canada in July for an ice hockey fellowship that will improve their skills and take their experience on the sport to the next level.
It will be the second time that Ali will be involved in such a high calibre program after she was awarded a full High School scholarship by Black Girl Hockey Club- USA in 2020.
It will also be the second time that Ali will be stepping on Canadian soil after she represented Kenya in the Curling championship in a past edition.
“As Kenya Federation of Ice Sports, we are glad with the high profile invites to Canada. We strongly believe this fellowship will strengthen the traveling players and will equip them with experience and skills needed to excel in the sport.
” We also believe this program will inspire and motivate many women to embrace this rare sport in Kenya,” Federation Vice President Ali Said Kilanga told Standard Sports.