Rough start for Team Kenya at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 24.07.26. | 16:28
The opening session saw athletes compete in bowling, 3x3 basketball and boxing
Team Kenya endured a tough opening session on their first day of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, after all its teams suffered defeats in their respective disciplines.
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On the back of a colorful opening ceremony on the night of Thursday, 23 July, Kenya’s first bunch of representatives were, on early Friday morning, handed a rude welcome, with no victories across the board.
First out for Team Kenya was bowler Anwar Hamada, who fell to a 2-0 sets defeat to Malta’s Shaun James in his first match of Section D of the Men's Singles Sectional Play.
The 59-year-old Hamada, who will also represent Kenya in the men’s pairs, went down 2-10 in set one, before making it a closer affair in the second set, eventually falling 4-9.
Hamada’s second match in the six-player section comes later on Friday against Canada’s Ryan Bester at 1750 EAT. As per the tournament format, the top-placed bowlers from each of the four sections on offer (A to D) will qualify for the semi-finals.
Kenya’s other representatives came in the 3x3 basketball, where both the national women’s and men’s wheelchair teams ended up on the losing side to Australia and Canada, respectively.
In the women’s game, Kenya’s quartet of Mary Lisa Omondi, Yvone Otieno, Esther Minayo and Babra Achieng, were handed a 21-5 thrashing to Australia, a result that saw them sink to bottom of Pool A, with four round-robin matches yet to play.
©Team KenyaIn the men’s wheelchair match, Kenya, who earned their place in the games via wildcard, were no match for reigning silver medalists Canada, going down 16-3 in regular time.
Kenya’s team, which consisted of the multi-talented Itaken Kipelian, Milton Ilahuya, Robert Ngugi and Ian Chege, will now hope to settle into the second game of their debut tournament, when they face Australia at 1220 EAT.
Closing out the opening session for Kenya was female boxer Amina Martha, who lost on her debut, going down 5-0 to 20-year-old English talent Lauren Mackie, in a women’s 54kgs Round of 32 clash.
©Team KenyaMartha, who is among a paltry four boxers representing the country in Glasgow, was heavily outscored in all three rounds of the contest staged at Hall Five, the judges scoring 30-25, 30-25, 30-26, 30-26, 30-27, all in favor of Mackie in the red corner.
After quite a solid number of exchanges in the first round, Martha was knocked down in the opening moments of the second, and was ultimately not aggressive enough to beat the active scorecard that had her trailing all through.
