Kenyan team confident of success as lawn bowl tourney gets underway

Attention shifts to Nairobi Safari Club and Karen Country Club where the Kenya Bowling Association will be hosting the 2019 Africa States Tournament (AST) which gets underway tomorrow.

The event which will run for a week ending on Saturday has attracted six countries – Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and host Kenya.

Speaking during the launch of the event today at the Nairobi Club, Sports Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Amina Mohammed hailed the federation for standing out in promoting the sport and urged the visiting countries to tour Nairobi city for a memorable experience.

KBA chairman Francis Muriithi, on his part, said despite the challenges, the tournament will run on smoothly and thanked the organizations that agreed to partner with them in hosting the games urging the government to step in and support the sport by providing a public facility where the game could be played by common people.

At the same time, Kenyan bowling team manager Bernard Ndungú is confident of a good performance from the selected players ahead of tomorrow’s bowl off.

Speaking to Citizen Digital after the official launch at the Nairobi Club, Ndungú said they are counting on home advantage as they chase for medals in respective categories.

“We have been in the camp training for three months after selecting our team, the preparations have been well, we have selected Benson Kariuki to represent us in the singles for men and Fridah Wangari Mwangi for ladies and the way we are prepared, there is no losing,” he charged.

“We did well in South Africa, and as host, we will be counting on the home support to do well and get as many medals as possible,” he said with delight.

The game will be played on a well-trimmed grass lawn and will be in four disciplines– singles, pairs, triples and fours. A player in the singles and pairs category aiming the jack – the white ball will have four bowls(woods) while triple players will have three bowls as those in fours discipline will have two woods.

The lawn bowls have a “bias” that gives the balls a flattened appearance which requires one to curve their shots towards the jack. The wood closest to the jack holds it which makes a score after a round.

Grace Njuguna, the ladies coach, echoed Ndungu’s sentiments stating that the exposure the team received by participating in Cardiff qualifying tournament for World Bowls May 2019 will be a strong point for them when they bowl off at Nairobi Club for ladies and Karen Country club for the men.

“For the ladies we have been training with the men to get that competitive edge in the game,” added Njuguna.

Kenya will bowl off her quest for  glory against South Africa in singles and fours for the morning session for both ladies and men. The play will be concurrent with each team bowling within the rink boundaries.

Irrespective of individual success in each discipline, the teams will be aiming to accumulate many points to boast the country overall on the final day.

Fixtures August 20

Morning Session

South Africa vs Kenya (Singles)

South Africa vs Kenya (Fours)

Afternoon Session

Kenya vs Zambia (pairs)

Kenya vs Zambia (Triple)