NOC-K reveal plans to hold Beach Games annually

The Kenya Beach Games will be an annual event.

This was revealed by National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) President Paul Tergat on Sunday during the closing ceremony of the second edition of the Beach Games at the Buntwani Beach in Malindi, Kilifi County.

Tergat said Beach Games is a prime area which Kenya will excel in future thus the need to have the games annually.

"The second edition has proven that the games were long overdue. The turnout has been amazing compared to the first edition and that is a testament in itself that the future in the games is bright and that is why we want more games to be included," said Tergat.

"We want to thank Kilifi County and moreso Governor Gideon Mung'aro who has been paramount in this arrangement. His hospitality has been top-notch. This has become our second home and we remain grateful to this County. We look forward for more collaboration," he added.

NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku said that just as hockey was introduced in the second edition, more disciplines will be drafted in upcoming events. 

"Cycling ,baseball, netball and athletics were on demonstration in this edition but in the next edition, we will make it competitive and we really want more disciplines to be added so that we can have more representative in Beach Games. Just like last year we had handball, the national women's team later won a silver medal in African Beach Games in Tunisia last year, a testimony that our players can perform well if we normalise Beach Games in the country. We also want to engage other counties to come on board and make these games better," said Mutuku.

Meanwhile, Mvita won the hockey title after beating Black Tigers 1-0 via penalties.

Hockey was making a debut at the second edition of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) sponsored Games.

James Wekesa scored the sole penalty goal. Mvita and Tigers had played to a 5-5 draw in regulation time.

On their way to the final, Black Tigers beat Daikyo 4-1, while Mvita defeated Malindi 4-2.

In the third-place play-offs, Daikyo squeezed a 4-3 win over Malindi to bag a bronze medal.

Commenting on the competition, Daikyo Heroes coach, an Olympian Ibrahim Ochieng said merging beach and sports can help the tourism sector to grow.

"We didn't have these opportunities in our time and watching these players compete, gives me so much pleasure because it's an area the country can grow not just in business but also the playing opportunity," said Ochieng who was part of the national team that competed in the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

In men's handball, Kilifians defeated Equity Bank 2-1 (16-11,12-13,5-2) to defend their  title. 

Kilifians and Equity had played to a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

Kilifians had beaten Kenya Revenue Authority 2-0 in the semi-final, while Equity Bank defeated Mombasa Saints with the same score line.

In the women's category, Coast Queens defeated Pwani Wolves  2-0 (17-13,15-14) to retain the title while Malindi Masters defeated Glorious Queens 2-1(6-9,12-10,5-2) to bag bronze medal.

In women's football ,MTG United defended the title with a 4-3 win over Mombasa Olympic. 

Rita Jilani scored all of MTGs goals while Doreen Adhiambo, Christine Ouma and Amina Aroni netted for Olympic. 

Mombasa Heroes beat Yanga 5-1 in the men's football final. Abdul Hafidh and Dennis Magige netted a brace each while Handhwala Harun added the extras. Doctor Kaingu scored Yanga's consolation.

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