Nairobi — Kenyan wrestlers have been tipped to top the medal standings at this weekend's East Africa Amateur Wrestling Championships in Nairobi.
Kenya Amateur Wrestling secretary general Erick Walucho is confident that the team is hungry for success and will not relent in their search for it.
"It's true that we will be having the likes of Harriet Akite from Uganda who won gold at the recent beach games in Malindi. However, I am also confident in our girls...that they will do well because they have really grown over the years. We have Emily Wanyama and Emma Wangila who are hungry for success," Walucho said.
The final team is expected to be named by technical director, Linus Masheti, and Walucho has hinted it will be a group of highly motivated individuals.
"I know he is in the final stages of fine tuning the team and possibly, by Wednesday, the final squad should be out. It will include under 15s, under 17s, under 20s as well as the seniors," he said.
It will be the first time the regional event will be held on home soil, with Sportsview Hotel, Kasarani hosting the freestyle championships as the beach wrestling action moves to Strathmore University.
The event has attracted 150 competitors from six countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Sudan and Mauritius.
Walucho encouraged as many young Kenyans as possible to pick up the sport.
"Sports is a perfect way of putting your youthfulness into action. It is also a means of putting food on the table and bringing honour to the country," he said.
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Speaking at the same time, World Wrestling development officer for Africa, Vincent Aka, said the tournament is part of the global body's vision of enhancing the sport in Kenya and East Africa.
"This is my second time in Kenya...first time I was here was to run a course for the federation, in collaboration with the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK). Now, we are going to combine this programme with the Universal Wrestling, the LOC of course and the federation to bring the region here to have a camp," Aka said.
He added: "We will have a training course and safeguard training because that is also very necessary. We will also train the federation on how to organise competitions before we culminate in the competition."
Apart Akite, other prominent wrestlers in action include African champion Kanapetradu Vihanshy Simran from Mauritius and African silver medalist Niyonkuru Gloria Lynca from Burundi.
