Familiar foes clash in KBF women's final

The stage has been set and the battle for the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) women's league 2021 championship begins in earnest on Saturday 19 February at Nyayo Indoor Arena. 

Holders Equity Hawks are on the defense as they look to deny nemesis Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) for a third season running. The Bankers have done it before but it remains to be seen how well prepared they are for the squad that the Dockers have. 

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Beyond the two sides as currently constituted, it is a battle of teammates up against former teammates at its best. A good number of the Hawks players have suited up for the Mombasa based club and vice versa. What's more, head coaches David Maina and Antony Ojukwu are former teammates at KPA, now some of the best tacticians in the country. 

En route to the final, the holders finished second in the regular league and booked Africa Nazarene University (ANU) in the best-of-three quarters, winning with an easy 2-0. 

Experience came into play in the semis, as the Maina-led bankers faced a young and vibrant Zetech Sparks in the best-of-five semis, again, picked a 3-0 sweep, albeit laboured wins. 

On their part, the Dockers swept aside Strathmore University Swords 2-0, the second match a walkover as the varsity side elected not to travel to Mombasa after a thrashing in Nairobi's Game One. 

Ojukwu's charges then booked Storms in the semis series and had no trouble going past the Abel Nson-coached side 3-0 with big margins. 

The battle is now against a familiar foe. Hawks have denied the Dockers in the 2018 and 2019 seasons but coach Ojukwu says it is time to bring the diadem home. 

On their best days, both teams' players can match each other position for position, player for player, handing those who will follow the action some matches to savour. 

"We comfortably won our match against Hawks in the second leg and I believe we can do the same in the final. I have a good squad and I believe they have what it takes to win the championship," Ojukwu said in an earlier interview. 

KPA have been training in Nairobi since Tuesday and the tactician believes they are ready for action against Hawks.