Nairobi — Kenya on Thursday became the first east African country to win the Africa Zone Six Golf Championship, ending an agonising 21-year wait at the par 71 Gaborone Golf Club course.

It was a brilliant finish for the Kenyans who won all their final round singles, thanks to the hot charging Stefan Andersen who beat South Africa's Jared Harvey 3-2, after leading by two holes at the turn, to give Kenya a total of 21 points, beating defending champions South Africa, who have dominated the championship, ever since they joined the Africa Zone Six grouping in 1996, by one and half points.

Kenyan team manager, Parshu Hirani, who is also the Kenya Golf Union vice chairman, was lost for no words to describe Kenya's victory. "We have opened the door to the rest of the east and central African countries and at the same time warn the South Africans that golf has come of age in our region," said Hirani, who thanked his players for working hard to make sure that they give Kenya its first ever international amateur golf title.

Team coach Ali Kimani said his players played according to the team plan. "I told them right from the word go that, no player was superior than others in the tournament and that every team had an equal chance of winning so longer as they remain and play as one unit," said Kimani.

He said he was most delighted that he had led the team to victory in his first assignment while Kenya Golf Union chairman, Samson Reuben Ndegwa, whose term comes to an end next year, described the victory as his best send off gift.

Kenya, who led from day one, gave an early warning sign during the closing round singles their first player, Abdul Sihag beat Tanzania's Elisante Lembris 7-5, and then team captain Francis Kimani gave Kenya their second point with a similar margin win against Mozambique's Paulo Mabica.

As the Kenyans had agreed on what score to bring, Nelson Mudanyi came up with another 7-5 victory against Botswana's P. Podise a victory which was followed by Sullivan Muthugia's 5-4 against Uganda's Ronald Rugumayo, a win which gave the Kenyans a comfortable lead with four matches to go.

It was Boniface Simwa and Collins Omondi's 5-4 and 4-3 victories which seems to have motivated the last two players on the course, Ali Orende and Andersen, who took full advantage of their half way lead to post 6-5 and 3-2 victories for Kenya's clean sweep in the final singles.

It is the first time Kenya has beaten South Africa twice in the singles. But if there is any one in the Kenyan team who was starving for a victory against the South Africans, then it was Andersen. "I was really out to beat Harvey, in particular, after losing to him the four ball better ball third round," said Andersen.

The South Africans, who won seven matches in the final round took the second place with 19.5 points, while Namibia were third on 16.5 after taking six and half in the final round where Zimbabwe got only two and half for a total of 15 points and in fourth place. Hosts Botswana finished fifth with 14.5 and next to them were Tanzania on 10.5 just half a point from Zambia.

Uganda was placed eighth with 9.5 and Swaziland came ninth with nine points as Malawi and Lesotho scored eight and sixth points for 10th and 11th places with Mozambique finishing last with only four points. In Nairobi, former KGU chairman, David Nyakango, led the celebrations.

"Congratulations to the team led by the KGU chairman Ndegwa, team manager Hirani, coach Kimani, captain Francis Kimani and the glamorous boys Stefan Andersen, Borniface Simwa, Collins Omondi, Sullivan Muthugia, Abdul Sihag, Nelson Mudanyi, and Ali Orende," Nyakango said. The team arrives back in Nairobi at 5pm on Friday.