Nairobi City in men semis as Petrojet, Vision, CBE, Nakasero prevail

Nairobi City beat Gardes Cotes of Djibouti 3-2 to qualify for the men’s  semi-finals in the ongoing Africa Club Championships at the Kasarani Indoor Stadium.

Led by Coach Anthony Mathenge, City lads oozed confidence from the word go to pull through in a tough but entertaining match.

The result was a welcome relief to Coach Mathenge given the fact that Nairobi had lost 0-3 to defending champions Enppi of Egypt on Monday.

Nairobi comprising Allan Singar, Kevin Mwang,  Edwin Otieno and Mike Otieno savoured their good performance with Coach Mathenge predicting a tough event ahead.

“We will try our level best and ensure that all is well. I have asked my players to stay focused through and through, so let’s see how it goes,” said Mathenge.

Kenyan posted mixed fortunes as City Eagles men’s team of Brian Mutua, Josiah Wandera and Peter Theuri got relegated to position 5-6 playoffs.

In the ladies category, Petrojet ladies’ team from Egypt are in the semi-finals of the prestigious event. which was hosted by Nigeria last year

Also through in the ladies semis are Nakasero of Uganda and Vision Table Tennis Club from Rwanda and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

The Kenyan ladies two teams Nairobi City and City Eagles were eliminated from the top prize after losing all their matches.

The City Eagles ladies team lost 0-3 t0 CBE in a Group B encouter. Nairobi City ladies were also beaten 3-0 by Vision Team from Rwanda.

The Africa Club’s event culminates on Wednesday to give way to the ITTF Africa Cup slated for Thursday through to Sunday. THe ITTF Africa Cup is a qualifier for the World Championships to be held in Tunisia later in May.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Omar Assar remains upbeat about his chances of lifting his 10 continental titles despite facing a stiff challenge from Nigerian Quadri Aruna in the ITTF-Africa Cup which begins on Thursday.

Aruna and Assar will for the second time in five years renew their rivalry in Kenya when the three-day ITTF -Africa Cup gets  underway at Kasarani indoor gymnasium.

The ITTF Africa Cup is being preceded by the on-going Africa Club Championships which started on Monday.

Although Aruna is Africa’s highest ranked player globally, Assar will be looking  to  repeat his 2018 feat in Nairobi where he defeated the Nigerian legend in a pulsating men’s singles final at Kasarani.