Basketball in Africa

By CAXTON APOLLO

Nairobi’s Kenya Polytechnic women’s basketball team has been promoted to this year’s Premier League that starts in Nairobi on April 17.
Joseph Amoko, the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) fixtures secretary, said on Tuesday that the number of teams in the 2010 competition has been increased from nine to 10.
He said Kenya Polytechnic had finished third in the Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) league but had to be promoted on grounds that both the league winners, Predators, and runner-up, Safe Space, had opted out of the Premier League.

NBA fixtures secretary, Caleb Osewe, confirmed they had given the promotion slot to Kenya Polytechnic since Predators and Safe Space were not willing to join the top competition. Osewe said Predators comprised former national team players who cannot cope with the high demands of the Premier League.

More competitive

They include Wilkister Akinyi, Winnie Kanani, Valentine Apondi and Sophie Mohammed. Amoko said increasing the teams from nine to 10 will make the women’s championship more competitive compared to last year. He said eight top teams will qualify for the play-offs’ quarter-finals after their regular season matches played on home and away basis.

The 10 teams in this year’s women’s league are KPA, Eagle Wings, Eastern Queens, Kenya College of Accountancy, Flames of the USIU, Yana, Sprite Storms, Strathmore University, Mennonites and Kenya Polytechnic.