Upper Hill, Aquinas out to retain titles as School Games start

What you need to know:

  • In boys’ handball, Metropolitan champions Aquinas will be out to wrestle the title from Makongeni.
  • Aquinas narrowly lost 21-19 in last year’s final but went on to beat their opponents at the Metropolitan finals.
  • In the girls’ event, losing finalists Nile Road will also seek to dethrone New Jogoo Road Girls.
  • In netball, champions Parklands Arya look set to renew their rivalry with their traditional adversaries Buru Buru Girls. Arya beat Buru Buru 39-25 in last year’s final.

Fireworks ae expected Friday morning as the Nairobi County Secondary Schools Term Two A Games get underway at the Nairobi School.

The two-day showpiece will see schools from across the county battle for honours in rugby sevens, handball, netball as well as the newly introduced Under-16 football event.

Apart from scooping the various titles, the top two schools in each discipline will represent the county at the Metropolitan Regional Games to be held at the Makueni Boys from May 27-29.

Sevens rugby champions Upper Hill, handball title holders New Jogoo Road Girls and Makongeni High as well girls’ netball champions Parklands Arya will put their titles on the line.

Sevens rugby will certainly be the attraction as schools look to dethrone Upper Hill and claim the gong. Upper Hill will certainly start as favourites as they seek to win back-to-back titles.

The champions beat beat Muhuri Muchiri 27-21 in last year’s final before beating the same opponents 36-5 at the Metro finals.

The champions dominated last week’s pre-qualifying event played at their backyard leading the scoring charts of the 16 teams that qualified for the main event.

Upper Hill, who are in Pool A, will kick start their campaign against rivals Lenana School before they tackle Makini School and Highway Academy in their subsequent preliminary matches.

Upper Hill skipper Phares Mbadi, who was impressive in last weekend’s contest, has urged his teammates not to be complacent as they seek to defend their crown.

“We cannot get carried away after last week’s performance. This is a different level and we need to be on top of our game,” Mbadi told Daily Nation Sport on Thursday.

Last year’s finalists Muchiri will start their hunt for the title against Dagoretti and then take on NPC Buru Buru and Strathmore in Pool D.

Last year’s Plate Winners Ofafa Jericho play Jamhuri High School in Pool B as Parklands tackle Moi Forces Academy in the other pool encounter. Hosts Nairobi School will bank on home advantage when they come up against Lang’ata as Eutychus, who finished fourth last year, play Aquinas in Pool C's opening matches.

HANDBALL RIVALS CLASH

The top two schools in each Pool will advance to the Main Cup quarters to be played on Saturday.

In boys’ handball, Metropolitan champions Aquinas will be out to wrestle the title from Makongeni.

Aquinas narrowly lost 21-19 in last year’s final but went on to beat their opponents at the Metropolitan finals.

In the girls’ event, losing finalists Nile Road will also seek to dethrone New Jogoo Road Girls.

In netball, champions Parklands Arya look set to renew their rivalry with their traditional adversaries Buru Buru Girls. Arya beat Buru Buru 39-25 in last year’s final.