Nine women and men’s tug of war players from Busia County have been selected for trials with the national team in Nairobi.
The players were picked during this year’s edition of the Kenya Inter-Counties Sports and Cultural Association (KICOSCA) Games that ended in Kisumu last weekend.
The ladies’ team includes Doris Mukhongo, Adelaide Akotsi, Sarah Mwandoto, Dr Billi Msafiri and Olivia Omuse while Joseph Omogola, Jude Emomeri and Isaac Okapesi were selected from the male squad.
Busia team manager, Solomon Itubo said the nine players deserved to join the national team which is being constituted for the first time owing to their impressive performance at the games.
Busia Queens shrugged off stiff opposition to pull outgoing champions Nairobi 2-1 in play-offs to emerge second runners behind runners-up Kakamega and winners Kisii which had beaten them 2-0 in the semis.
Busia started the games on a sound note, pulling Vihiga 2-0 before losing to Nairobi 2-1 in the second match. However, they recovered their poise to pull Kisumu and Nyeri 2-0 respectively to sail through to the quarters where they pulled Nakuru City 2-0.
Busia men’s team fell in the quarterfinals to new champions Kisumu which pulled them 2-0. The border county had lost 2-0 to Laikipia before bouncing back to beat Narok and Kiambu 2-0 respectively.
Itubo attributed the women’s team vast improvement, bettering their ninth podium finish in the previous edition of the games to team spirit right from the governor, CEC, captain and players.
“Our focus will be on the next KICOSCA games in Kilifi where we shall strive to silence defending champions Kisumu and Kisii,” he said, noting that they have what it takes to capture the two titles.
By Absalom Namwalo
