Rising Starlets, Queens shine in league matches

Rising Starlets thrashed National Youth Service (NYS) 38-19 in their Kenya Handball Federation women's league match at the Kaloleni handball courts in Nairobi on Thursday.

Starlets, who were ranked position two with six points before the match, had Winfred Kimanga top scoring for them with 13goals, while Annastacia Nzembi secured seven goals and Naomi Melody chipped in with six goals in the encounter.

Rising Starlets coach John Atambwa noted that NYS' dependence on their best player worked to their an advantage since it opened up chances for them to easily score.

"This was an easy win for us, although we were a bit worried about our ball handling since the ball was wet from the rainy morning, but I'm glad the girls easily adjusted and played to win," said Atambwa.

Rising Starlets have so far played seven matches and this was their fourth win in the league.

NYS, who hold the ninth and bottom position on the league standings with zero points, seemed to have tough luck during the first half of the match where they missed several chances and also played with fewer players due to injury and foul play.

Hilda Jebet held the forte for the NYS team scoring 10 goals, while Fridah Moraa and Angeline Musenya closely followed with four goals and three goals respectively.

MKU STRUGGLED

In the second women's match, champions Nairobi Queens outclassed their MKU Thika, hammering them 44-15.

Queens had an evenly disturbed performance from the team members with Brenda Arivisa leading the pack with 10 goals closely followed by Merina Atandala and Brenda Musambai with six goals each.

"The girls keenly followed our game plan and we luckily didn't have any injuries and they had an easy game since MKU is not a strong team," said Jack Herbert, Nairobi Queens coach.

MKU Thika struggled with their ball handling skills and their dangerous play and weak passes cost them dearly in the second half of the match.

Sarah Ciritu was the top scorer for MKU with seven goals followed by Sylvia Munyui who had three goals.

This is the third loss for MKU as they have so far played four matches and have had just one win in the league.

In the men's matches, Technical University of Kenya (TUK) beat their Nanyuki opponents 26-19.

TUK, who are currently ranked position 12 in the standings with two points, had an evenly distributed performance with almost equal effort from most of its players exhibiting great passes, good ball handling and speed.

Their top scorer, Michael Nguye led the team with six goals closely followed by Brian Werunga with five goals.

Their coach, Chris Ojwang said the players put on a good fight to secure the team its second win in the league.

"Our goal was to move up the standings and that's what drove us to play better than our previous match and I'm happy the boys delivered," said Ojwang.

12 MATCHES

Nanyuki, who closely follow TUK in the standings, have so far had two losses from three matches played.

Nanyuki started off well in the first half with their top scorers Paul Musembi and James Nzioka scoring six goals each, but had a rough time in the second half where TUK dominated.

In the second men's match, MKU Thika beat their JKUAT opponents 26-18.

This was their first win for the students, who are ranked position 19 in the standings, and have so far played four games and lost four games as well.

Moses Wachira and Andrew Odoyo were the top scorers for MKU Thika each scoring four goals, while Edgar Malalu was the top scorer with five goals for JKUAT

The match marked the fourth loss for JKUAT, who are position seven in the standings with six points.

The league has two remaining rounds with 12 remaining matches.