Ulinzi Sharks open season against K.U as the race for KHF league points intensifies

Kenya Handball Federation (KHF) women's league side Ulinzi Sharks open their season on Sunday, July 11, with a clash against Kenyatta University (K.U) in what will be their first match since the league was suspended in March 2020 following Kenya's first Covid-19 case.

The military side was not in action when KHF's first round of this season was played on March 20 and 2. The women's league champions Nairobi Water Queens and former champions National Cereals and Produce Boards (NCPB) picked wins against Nanyuki and K.U respectively on that opening weekend before a second suspension of sporting activities grounded the federation's activities. 

Sharks, according to their coach Evans Omollo, have maintained a core of their squad that did duty in the 2019 season with only one addition made. 

"This is our fast match in over 15 months but we have kept busy in training and I believe the team will do well. We have the same squad from 2019 but for that one addition so they have the experience of playing in the league. We take it one match at a time," said Omollo who will miss the better part of the league's first leg as he is tied with other military duties.

Before the suspension in March last year, the women's league had holders Nairobi Water in the lead at 16 points from eight wins, two points ahead of NCPB who had played nine matches for 7 wins. Sharks were in third place, unbeaten, having played seven matches for 14 points the same as NCPB. Sporting activities were suspended on Friday, 13 March 2020, a day before a clash between Water and Sharks that was a crucial league decider. 

Sharks opponents for the day, K.U are coming off a 30-27 win over newbies Rangers Women and are looking to cause an upset and pick a second win in three matches this season. 

The other women's league match of the day will see holders Water take on new entrants, Amazon, a team affiliated to Thika's Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) engineers. The latter lost their opening match last weekend to Rangers and head to the match as the underdogs. 

In the men’s league, Boomarang open their season against bottom-of-the-table Generation who have lost five matches and are chasing their first win of the season. 

The second match of the day for Boomarang is against Thika, a military side looking to pick their third win in what will be their sixth match of their season. Thika are fifth at five points from two wins and one draw. A win takes them to third on seven points, frog jumping General Service Unit (GSU) and Black Mamba who are third and fourth respectively. 

Meawhile, second-placed Strathmore face KDF's Tigers as they chase a fifth win in as many matches. A win for Strathmore and a slip up from Ulinzi who play Kahawa in a KDF derby that serves as the final match of the day, will see Strathmore go top of the table. The military side and the varsity side are tied on points with goal difference giving the military side an edge over the scholars.