Kenya beat Singapore 61-33 to win their first international trophy at Nations Cup

SINGAPORE – The crowd of 1,280 at the OCBC Arena on Sept 7 may have comprised mainly Singaporean supporters, but that did little to intimidate Kenya’s netballers who were facing the hosts in the Mirxes Nations Cup final.

They even had a unique approach to turn the noise from the partisan fans into their advantage: The Kenyans simply assumed that the cheers were for them.

It worked in the 30th-ranked team’s favour as they beat defending champions Singapore 61-33 to lift their first international trophy.

Goal shooter Lydia Nyapera said: “We have a slogan: Whoever is there, we will assume that you guys are our supporters, whether you’re from Singapore or Kenya.

“It didn’t affect us, we had prepared for that so it was something normal to us and we took it positively.”

Capitalising on a frantic start from Singapore, Kenya took an early lead.

While the hosts eventually settled into the game, the first quarter ended with the visitors leading 16-9, although several incorrect calls against world No. 25 Singapore were made by the umpire.

It was a closer contest in the second quarter.

But the Africans’ athleticism and physical presence proved challenging as they extended their advantage to 30-20 at the interval.

As fatigue crept into the Singapore squad, Kenya, who played without substitutions, dominated the third quarter.

The visitors outscored their opponents 15-6 for a 19-goal advantage, before closing out their victory.

The success was significant for Kenya, who were unranked just five years ago.

Their coach Ali Mugisha said: “Being able to be champions internationally is such a great sign of all the hard work they have put in, all the pain and suffering they have been through, all the challenges they have gone through as a nation, as mothers, as young ladies, as a federation.”

With netball still a developing sport in Kenya, the players have had to overcome challenging conditions to earn their maiden international triumph.

The lack of proper training facilities in their country sometimes saw them practise on fields, while limited resources meant they were not always able to train together as the players, many of whom work as prison officers and soldiers, are located all over the country.

But Mugisha hopes their win will help netball grow in Kenya and inspire girls back home to “keep working hard and believe in netball”.

“They are not given chances to play, they don’t have food, they are struggling with education,” he added.

Centre Irine Anyango, 23, said: “This will motivate so many girls back in Kenya to work hard so that when they reach our age, maybe they can join the Kenya national team and continue the legacy.”

Despite the defeat, Singapore co-captain Toh Kai Wei lauded the team’s effort against Kenya, who also defeated the hosts 49-36 in the round-robin stage on Sept 3.

While there are certain things for the team to work on, such as making sure they start strong in every game, she believes the Nations Cup sets them up well for the Oct 18-27 Asian Netball Championship in India.

Toh, 28, said: “It’s good progression for the team towards the Asian Netball Championship, we definitely learnt a lot from this campaign.”

The United Arab Emirates beat Ireland 52-46 to end third while Singapore A thumped Canada 61-38 to finish fifth.