Nairobi teams dominate National Deaf Basketball Championship

Nairobi Deaf kings and Nairobi Deaf Queens are the winners of the National Deaf Basketball Championship that was held at Kasarani on Wednesday.

The tournament which was sponsored by Safaricom was also used to select the Kenyan team that will go for the World Deaf Basketball Championships in July. Kenya who are the reigning Africa Champions will be representing the continent at the global event in Poland.

“In preparation for the National championship, we first conducted grassroots trials in different regions around the country as we continue to create awareness about Deaf Basketball. We are grateful to corporates like Safaricom who are supporting us in our quest to make the sport more popular and we are looking forward to taking a strong team to Poland in July”, said Miriam Opondo, President, Deaf Basketball Association of Kenya.

The event brought together 14 teams from across the country with Nairobi Deaf Kings beating Kajiado Deaf Basketball Club in the men’s final. Deaf Center from Ukunda finished 3rd. In the women’s category, Nairobi Deaf Queens saw off Nairobi Deaf Youth in the final while Mombasa Pirates finished 3rd.

Daniel Ochieng and Mercy medieval were named the Most Valuable players of the tournament.

The team will now kick off preparations for the World Deaf Basketball Championships which will include participation in regional leagues and a training Camp in June.

Safaricom has donated Ksh 3 million to the Kenya Deaf Basketball association to support their activities ahead of the World Championships