Morans to battle Gor, Bandari for SOYA award

National men basketball team Morans have been nominated for the Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Award (SOYA) Male Team of the year category at the upcoming awards gala slated for January 24 in Mombasa.

The Morans will however face stiff competition from Kenyan Premier League (KPL) sides Gor Mahia and Bandari FC as well KCB Rugby Club and the Beach Tennis team.

At the inaugural FIBA Afrocan tournament held in Bamako, Mali, Morans defied the odds to storm the finals where they eventually lost 82-61 to the Democratic Republic of Congo to settle for silver.

Prior to the continental tourney, Morans stunned Egypt in the Zone 5 tournament to finish top and subsequently seal a continental ticket.

On their part, Gor will be hoping to bag the gong after successfully defending their KPL title with three matches to go en route to winning a record 18th title with a massive haul of 75 points.

Gor also became the first Kenyan team to reach the CAF Confederation Cup quarter final stage after finishing second in Group D with nine points jointly with Zamalek who had a better goal difference.

Furthermore, Kogalo also won the KPL Super Cup after beating Shield winners Bandari 1-0 in the 2019/20 KPL pre-season opener before surrendering the SportPesa Cup to Kariobangi Sharks after being bundled out in the quarter-finals.

Bandari will be eyeing the award after reclaiming the FKF Shield where they beat fellow KPL side Kariobangi Sharks in the finals before reaching the playoff round in the CAF Confederation Cup for the first time ever.

The Mombasa-based side also reached the final of the SportPesa Cup, losing 1-0 to Kariobangi Sharks in the finals.

KCB RFC who were close to winning the team of the year last year, will be hoping it will be second time lucky for them this year.

Apart from successfully defending the Kenya Cup crown for the third year in a row, where they lost only once, the Curtis Olago coached side also retained the Floodlit tournament for the third year in a row.  They also won the National Sevens Series Circuit.

The beach tennis team won bronze at the African Beach Games and was also the first team to qualify for African Beach Games apart from being the first male beach tennis team in Kenya.

Tags:

morans GOR MAHIA 2019 SOYA Awards FIBA AfroCan

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