Following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s announcement of a raft of measures that will see schools resume in September and possibly a return to social gatherings, Kenya is now poised to play South Africa in an international polo friendly match, officials have confirmed.
The 14.5-goal match, which is poised for September will either be played at Manyatta Polo Club in Gilgil or Nairobi Polo Club at a date to be announced by Kenya Polo Association (KPA).
Consequently, the 16-goal match pitting Kenya against Zambia that was to be played in Gilgil next month has officially been cancelled according to KPA chairman Gordon Millar.
Millar said the coronavirus pandemic has forced them to schedule another executive committee meeting to decide the next cause of action after five weeks without action.
The KPA calendar of events which had earlier been scheduled to kick-off last month was shelved after the government banned social gatherings.
“We had to abide with government directives just like other sporting federations, which off course has affected most of our programs. We’ll have to do without some of them,” Millar told Standard Sports in reference to the cancellation of the match against Zambia.
“Our focus now shifts to the match against South Africa. This is the only international match we are hosting this season. Otherwise, the remaining programs that were scheduled to proceed from September will continue,” said the KPA boss.
He said players and their horses need one-month training sessions in order to attain the required levels of fitness for the South African match.
Samurai’s Jules Camm (left) and Jadini Nzomo of Toyota during Kenya International tournament at Nairobi Polo Club on Friday, Sept 13, 2019. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]