Brave Sigona clinch Tannahill Shield tourney

Sigona put up a brave fight in the final round, beating Karen Country Club and the Windsor to clinch the 98th edition of the annual Tannahill Shield tournament at the par 72 Royal Nairobi Golf Club course on Sunday.

It was a brilliant performance from the Sigona team, which according to captain Mohit Mediratta, started practising for the event in January.

“It feels unreal, this is a project we started with my colleague John Wangai two years ago and I am happy it has produced good results. We started preparing for the event in January," said Mohit Mediratta.

During the final round which attracted a big crowd, Sigona beat Karen 5-3 and collected a maximum eight points from relegated bound Windsor for 11 points in the round and a grand total of 47 points, to beat the hot-charging Mombasa by seven points.

This was the first time in the history of the event Sigona was able to win out-rightly after tying with Vet Lab in 1974 and again with Muthaiga in 2013.

During their match with Karen, the Sigona pair of Akshay Chandaria and Suny Matharu beat Justus Njogu and Rufus Gichuki 9-8. Then Sam Kingori and Ngondo Kimemia halved with Liban Roba and Shahshwat Harish.

Deep Shah and Kush Mediratta won by one hole against Karen’s Gilbert Maina and Paul Kaguamba. Sigona though lost the last game where Amit Modi and Anand Chandarana lost 4-3 to Robert Keter and James Ngotho.

Meanwhile, the Mombasa side which had a tough outing during Saturday afternoon’s third round, bounced back to form to beat Western 5-3 and Limuru 7-1 to bring their aggregate to 40 points. This is the first time Mombasa finished second in the tournament.

On the other hand, Western Kenya team tied third with defending champions Muthaiga on 36 points each, while hosts Royal were fifth on 29 points, one better than Limuru. Royal was only able to earn four points in the final round.

Railway, who picked 10 points in the last round, tied with Karen on 23 points as Windsor who got two points, finished with 17 points, and will be relegated, hence will miss next year’s tournament.

A total of nine teams participated in the tournament which was sponsored by Jamii Telecommunications.

Other sponsors were Crystal Rivers, Coca Cola, AAR, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), EABL and Safari Park Hotel and Casino.