KPA, Equity shift focus to league after Zone Five heartache

Kenya’s dominance in the Africa Women Zone Five Basketball Championship came to a screeching halt after they failed to retain their title in this year’s vent.

The title has changed hands between Kenyan clubs in the last three years with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) triumphing in 2016 and 2017, while Equity Bank Hawks dethroned them last year.

With these impressive stats, many expected the title to return home yet again but it was not to be as the curtains came down on the one-week event on Saturday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Equity came out a disappointing fourth after losing to JKL of Uganda in the semis. It did not get any better of the bankers from Kenya as they lost to APR of Rwanda in the third- place playoffs.

At the group stage, Equity had dispatched the Rwandan side but could not replicate the magic when it was most needed.

KPA on the other hand earned a ticket as one of the two teams which will represent Zone Five at the Africa Women Championship which will be held in Madagascar from December 6 by virtue of their runners-up slot in the regional tourney behind newly crowned champions JKL.

Speaking upon arrival, Equity Bank head coach David Maina attributed their semis capitulation to the absence of key asset Betty Kananu.
“We lost our main scorer Betty Kananu who got injury, we also need to work on our defence both at individual level and as a team,” Maina observed.

Maina also added that there is need to invest and professionalise the local league to enable them compete effectively in the region.
“Our league is not very competitive and that is something that was seen in Tanzania. We need to dig deeper and be prepared if we have to maintain our level in the region,” Maina advised.

The bankers will now shift focus to the domestic league where they are primed to take on Strathmore on Sunday.
On her part, KPA captain Brenda Angeshi attributed their performance to hard work.

“Hard work and consistency got us to the final though we fell short of our target but we thank God we got to qualify to the continental championship,” she said.

KPA have a quarter final playoffs Game One at hand in Nairobi before shifting focus to Game Two and Three in Mombasa.