Isabella Ochichi and Shadrack Kemboi achieved a Kenyan double at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, winning the women’s and men’s contests respectively at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on Sunday (20).

On a day when humidity was between 70-80%, Ochichi recorded a personal best of 2:30:20 to take 37 seconds off the course record set last year by Meseret Biru.

Kemboi, who finished fourth in this race last year, made it to the top of the podium this time with a winning performance of 2:11:41.

Ochichi had Bahrain’s Eunice Chumba for company in the first half, which was covered in 1:14:22, well inside course record pace.

Chumba then began to fade, leaving Ochichi to run alongside some male athletes as she completed the race in 2:30:20.

It took more than a minute from the 2:31:38 PB she set on her marathon debut in Amsterdam. It was also her first marathon victory after finishing fourth in Amsterdam in 2013 and third in Honolulu in 2014.

“I always wanted a marathon victory,” said Ochichi, the 2004 Olympic 5000m silver medallist. “I thought that it would come in Honolulu in 2014, but I got it today on my home continent – Africa – and I couldn’t be happier.”

Chumba finished second in 2:33:12 and Jemila Shure from Ethiopia was third in 2:37:52.

After an hour and a half of running in the men’s race, a group of nine athletes were still together. South Africa’s Lungile Gongqa was the first to try to make a break, but he was reeled back in after a few minutes. Nevertheless, his injection of pace helped to break up the leading pack.

Just a few minutes later, Kemboi was the next to make a move. He hit the front and soon opened up a gap on the field, one which grew until the finish line.

Within a matter of moments, he was away and clear out in front and he eventually crossed the line in 2:11:41. After a 1:07:01 first half, the second half was significantly quicker with Kemboi covering the final 13.1 miles in 1:04:40.

All three of his marathon victories to date have all been on South African soil, having won in Soweto in 2012 and Johannesburg in 2013.

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday hosted the sevens at state house in a reception marked with glamour and pomp.The president also rewarded the triumphant national sevens rugby team with Ksh10M for their historic main cup victory in Singapore.
Kenya pulled off a stunning 30-7 upset victory over defending champions and series leaders Fiji to claim their first ever world sevens series title in the eighth leg of the 2015/2016 world sevens series. Focus now shifts to Paris sevens where Kenya is pooled together with New Zealand, Portugal and Russia.

Traditional dancers greeted Kenya’s winning rugby sevens team Tuesday when they landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, as the country celebrated its first victory on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
The dancers – some donning the Kenyan flag – lined up on both sides of a red carpet as the players stepped off a flight from Singapore, where they won their first series tournament by beating Fiji 30-7 on Sunday.
The result adds Kenya to the list of teams in the running to win the inaugural Olympics tournament in Rio de Janeiro later this year.
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, who had indicated he will personally receive the team, was not at the airport with officials saying he was held up.
Kenya sevens captain Andrew Amonde holds the Singapore Sevens trophy aloft as they arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta international airport in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Photo: Reuters
Sports cabinet secretary Hassan Wario, who welcomed the team, urged them to help Kenya increase its Olympic medal tally which traditionally has come from track events.

 Kenya’s all-time leading try scorer Collins Injera was named the eighth HSBC player of the final after his two tries helped Shujaa to a 30-7 triumph over defending champions Fiji at the eighth round of the Rugby Sevens World Series in Sunday’s Singapore 7s Cup final

Injera collected the award after he helped his side to a historic first-ever Cup final, having earlier booked his side’s place in the final with a drop goal penalty.

The tries were his 224th and 225th career tries, leaving him just five short of Santiago Gomez Cora’s record, aged 32 from Argentina who has netted 230 tries., and six from beating it.

Shujaa’s Collins Injera had previously moved into second place of the top try scorers in the world after scoring his 221 try at Vancouver IRB series in Canada.

It was a memorable occasion for the vice captain and Kenya, having never won a Cup before on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series since their inaugural in 1999.

Injera’s brother Humphrey Kayange scored his 150th and Kenya’s 1,500th sevens try in their 24-21 victory over Russia in the Las Vegas IRB series in US, on March 5, 2016.

Having famously signed the TV camera when scoring his 200th in London last year,Injera is known for his speed, power and confidence and soon will beat the Argentinian to be all time scorer. .

injera

Kenya made history by squishing defending champions and series leaders Fiji 30-7 to claim the Singapore Sevens Main Cup title, on Sunday.
This is Kenya's first ever Cup title in the World Sevens Series. The famous victory over Fiji saw Shujaa leapfrog England into the seventh place on the overall IRB Series rankings after garnering 12 points from the eighth leg to take their point tally to 85. South Africa finished third after beating Argentina 28-0 as Samoa stunned New Zealand 26-21 to lift the Plate. On their way to the final, Kenya stunned Argentina 15-12 as Fiji thrashed South Africa 28-0. Nelson Oyoo put Kenya ahead with an unconverted try before Injera struck two tries to go within two tries of Argentina's Santiago Gomez Cora at the top of the all-time try scoring charts with a try double to earn the player of the final award. Sammy Oliech then scored the third try to hand Kenya a comfortable 20-0 halftime lead. Jerry Tuwai pulled a try back for Fiji that was converted by Vatemo Ravouvou, but Oyoo raced from his own half to put the game beyond Fiji with a brilliant unconverted try. Substitute Frank Wanyama sealed the famous victory with a try in the corner.

Abera of Ethiopia, the world's leading marathoner this season won the Hamburg Marathon on Sunday by covering the distance in two hours, six minutes, 59 seconds while two Kenyans, Philemon Rono was second in 2:07:20 and Josphat Kiprono third in 2:10:44.

Wind was a strong factor as shown by the race splits and the way the men’s race developed. In the early stages a tail wind gave the leading group an extra boost between 7 and 15 kilometres, giving them a split time for the latter of 44:17 and on course for a finishing time of 2:04:30. The course record of 2:05:30, set by Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge three years ago, appeared to be in danger.

They couldn’t maintain this kind of pace consistently as headwinds began to blow strongly. The leading group comprising ten men reached halfway in 62:49 but by 30km the numbers were cut in half. This quintet consisted of four runners plus the Kenyan pacemaker Albert Kangogo and reached 30km in 1:29:29. The pacemaker then dropped out, leaving the outcome to be decided between Tesfaye Abera and Philemon Ron along with the Ethiopian Abayneh Ayele and Eritrea’s Yekeber Bayabel. It came down to a duel between the lanky Abera, 1.92m tall, and the diminutive Rono. After 35km the Ethiopian made a break but the Kenyan was back with him two kilometres later. The decisive attack came shortly before 40km when Abera attacked and Rono had no response..

Harambee Starlets made history on Tuesday when they qualified for their first ever Africa Women’s Championships after holding Algeria to a 1-1 draw in the return leg of their second round clash in Nairobi.

The result saw the Starlets go through on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate and make the continental showpiece event set for Cameroon in November.

It will be the first appearance by any Kenyan team at the Afcon finals since the men’s side competed in the Tunisia 2004 edition.
Substitute Cheris Avilia Salono was the heroine as her second-half goal pulled Starlets level after the visitors had taken a first-half lead through Bouheni Naima.

With most of the hard work done last Friday when the Kenyans held Algeria to a 2-2 draw in Algiers, the hosts went into the game aware that a 0-0 or 1-1 draw or a win of any kind would see them through to the finals.
“Congratulations to the Harambee Starlets for making history by qualifying for African Cup of Nations. This is a big win and a massive boost for the women’s game in Kenya. Your success is an inspiration for young girls across Kenya and affirmation that they too can make it in the game,” Ruto said in a statement shortly after the match.

“We are behind you and we will support you all the way at the Cup of Nations as you make Kenya even prouder and lift our name higher,” added the DP.

           b                                Above: Esse Akida fights for the balls against Algerian's Defender Fatima Bara

Football Kenya Federation has announced that Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nation qualifier pitting Kenya women’s national team and their Algerian opponents will not attract any gate charges.

The match scheduled for April 12 is poised to kick-off from 4pm and will be played at the 60, 000 capacity Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani.

The return leg match offers Kenya’s national women’s team - commonly referred to as the starlets - with a realistic chance to qualify for the continent’s premier tourney for the first time.

The team held Algeria to a 2-2 draw during the first leg match played in Algiers. The starlets require a win or either a 0-0, 1-1 draws to join seven other teams that will grace the 12th edition that will be held in Cameroon from November 19 to December 3.

Federation of Kenya Football Secretary CEO, Robert Muthomi said the decision was made to give the team much needed support and the women’s game. “We are on the brink of great result that will propel our women’s team to make a debut at the continent’s top tournament.

“A positive result will spur the development of the game in the country hence the need for our fans to turn out in large numbers and offer much needed support.”

The Algerian women’s team arrived on Sunday.

Kenya Sevens team picked 10 points from Hong Kong leg after going down 33-0 to England in the plate semi-finals. Kenya remain placed eighth in the IRB rankings with 60 points after seven legs.

Earlier on, Kenya lost 12-10 to Fiji in the Main Cup quarter finals. Both sides had settled for a barren draw in the first half before Fiji made a breakthrough in the second half through Kitione Taliga. Kenya responded through the ever green Collins Injera after kicking the ball and making a successful chase to give Kenya a 7-5 lead following Samuel Oliech’s successful conversion. Kenya were momentarily in control of the match and Injera gave them a 10-5 lead after they were awarded penalty in front of posts.

However, the troublesome Savenaca Rawaca made no mistake as he raced past debutant Alvin Otieno to touch down at stoppage time. Osea Kolinisau made a successful conversion to give Fiji 12-10 win. It was third successive defeat for the national side, who dropped to plate semis and were paired against England. The Britons equally proved too smart for Kenya, catching them unaware 54 seconds after kick off to take a 7-point lead.

Despite pushing England to their territory, Tom Mitchell kicked the ball and Dan Norton sprinted past Nelson Oyoo to score England’s second try and his 200th in the IRB series as they took a 12-0 lead at breather.

The second half was a one-side affair as England scored three more tries to send Kenya packing. Focus now shifts to the inaugural Singapore Sevens set for this weekend. The team departs for Singapore today. Injera, who scored his 223rd try in the series says they will seek to rectify some of the mistakes they made in Hong Kong. However, he says he was impressed with the team’s defence especially against New Zealand and Fiji.

“We really need to focus and correct on the mistakes we made. We will also look at the positives we picked from the circuit. One positive thing from this tournament is our defence, where we displayed a lot of improvement. We can make it even better in Singapore,” he said.

Kenya face South Africa, Scotland and Russia in Singapore.

Meanwhile Biko Adema has been ruled for the rest of the season with an injury. Adema picked a knock on his thumb last week on Wednesday and will be replaced by Samuel Motari

Kenya Sevens take on defending champions Fiji in Hong Kong Sevens Cup quarter-finals on Saturday from 7.40am where they hope to make amends for their previous defeats in Sydney and Vancouver to the Pacific Ocean islanders.

Benjamin Ayimba charge’s sailed through to the Cup quarters, their fourth this season, by the skin of their teeth after losing to New Zealand and France 5-0 and 10-17 respectively on Saturday.

What counted for Kenya Sevens, who qualified alongside New Zealand from in Pool A to the Cup quarters, was their superior point difference.

New Zealand topped the pool unbeaten, edging France 19-17, Kenya 5-0 and Samoa 20-10.

However, mathematics had to be used after Kenya, Samoa and France tied on five points after winning once and losing twice each.

Kenya sailed through with a point difference of positive 12. France had a difference of negative seven and Samoa negative 30.

Skipper Andrew Amonde said they played well but unfortunately didn’t take their chances to attack and score. “What is happening is that teams strategise well against Kenya hence we must work hard all round in defence, possession and attack to be able to win,” he said.

Veteran Humphrey Kayange said they should have won again against All Blacks.

“We didn’t take our chances to attack especially at the breakdowns and one mistake cost us the try against All Blacks,” said Kayange.

“We always plan to win tournaments and that moment will come soon.”

Kenya launched their quest on Friday by beating Samoa 24-0. Samoa recovered to edge out France 24-12 yesterday. Kenya failed to make amends for their 24-21 Bowl quarter-final defeat in Vancouver to the Frenchmen.

Fiji topped Pool D unbeaten, dispatched Canada 19-17, South Korea 57-0 and Wales 36-10.

In their last pool match, France got off to a flying start, starving the Kenyans off possession to lead 12-0.