Telkom Orange, Butali Sugar Warriors kick start title defence

What you need to know:

  • Orange won all their matches last season, finishing on 54 points and will be looking to extend their dominance on the local front.
  • Orange head coach Jos Openda has urged his charges to be better than last season as they seek to win a record 19th crown.

Champions Butali Sugar Warriors and Telkom Orange begin their title defence this weekend as the 2016 Kenya Hockey Union season gets underway on Saturday at the City Park Stadium, Nairobi.

Orange, who won a record 18th league crown last season, open the proceedings against Kenyatta University (KU) Titans in a women’s league match.

Men’s Premier League champions Butali will kick start their bid to win the title for the third straight season against KU Vultures at the same venue while debutantes Chase Sailors will play Kenya College of Accountancy of University (KCAU) in the last match of the day.

Orange won all their matches last season, finishing on 54 points and will be looking to extend their dominance on the local front.

Orange head coach Jos Openda has urged his charges to be better than last season as they seek to win a record 19th crown.

“We conceded only once last season and we want to try and keep clean sheets in all matches this season,” Openda said on Friday.

The African Club champions scored an impressive 132 goals from 18 matches last season with prolific striker Jackline Mwangi topping the scoring charts with 20 goals.

Mwangi is expected to lead the attack for Orange assisted by Audrey Omaido and Lilian Aura. Titans, who finished sixth last season, will be aiming for an improved performance this season.

“We have learnt from our mistakes and our target this season is to try and defend better and also work on our forward play,” Titans coach Dominic Mutwol said.

POOL SYSTEM

The men’s Premier league will adopt a pool format this season and champions Butali are in Pool A while last season’s runners up Kenya Police headline pool B.

The top two teams in each pool will advance to the playoffs, where the winners will meet in the final to determine the men’s premier league champions.

Butali have bolstered their squad with the acquisitions of internationals Lawrence Okubasu and Tony Nyukuri from USIU and Greensharks respectively.

The two are expected to add fire power to an already lethal forward line that has Zack Aura, Seth Oburu, Frank Wanangwe and Emmanuel Simiyu.

The Kisumu-based side won the league last season with 77 points, four more than Police. Butali coach Cliffe Okello believes the pool format will be tricky but is optimistic of reaching the playoffs.

“The first target is of course to make the playoffs and then try and win the league. We have the players who can win us matches and titles as well,” Okello said.

Police will be in action tomorrow against Wazalendo while former champions Sikh Union Nairobi and Strathmore University Gladiators facing off in the last match of the weekend.

FIXTURES (All Matches at City Park Stadium)

Saturday

Women’s National: Orange v Titans – 12pm

Men’s National: Thika Rovers v TUK- 2pm

Men’s Premier: Butali v Vultures - 4pm, KCAU v Chase – 6pm

Sunday

Women’s National: Sliders v Daystar Falcons – 9am

Men’s National: Wazalendo Youth v Multimedia - 11am

Men’s Premier: Kenya Police v Wazalendo- 1pm, Sikh Union v Strathmore – 3pm