S'pore's run to final 'good build-up' for SEA Games

Dancing to the song, Jowi, proved to be the perfect move for the Kenyan netball team on Nov 8, for the tune — which in their native language Luo is about a buffalo “that is a very strong animal and doesn’t retaliate” — was the soundtrack of

- David Lee Senior Sports Correspondent

their strong title defence at the Singlife Nations Cup.

A 55-42 victory over hosts Singapore in the final saw the world No. 23 team maintaining their unbeaten record en route to the trophy at the OCBC Arena.

Kenya’s 44-year-old captain Parin Simiyu told The Sunday Times: “We feel great about the win because we expected this when we were coming.

“We knew the other teams are tough opponents and winning the championship again would not be easy, so we prepared ourselves well.

“Above all, staying in unity and playing with love have also played a very big role to our team winning here today.”

Indeed, throughout the week, Kenya posted assured performances in victories against Singapore (22nd), Malaysia (28th), Papua New Guinea (33rd), Singapore A (unranked), and Isle of Man (31st).

It was the same story in the final on Nov 8. The Singapore Vandas had raised hopes of avenging their 2024 final defeat against the same opponents after a narrow 49-44 round-robin loss on Nov 4.

The hosts had also beaten the Africans 42-40 at the UAE Netball Cup in June, and claimed a 2-0 lead in front of over 1,600 raucous fans at the OCBC Arena Hall 1 in their latest encounter.