Kenya’s national woodball team delivered an impressive performance at the 2026 World Woodball Championship in Perlis, Malaysia, winning one silver and six bronze medals to underline the country’s growing competitiveness on the international stage.
The Championship, held from July 24 to 29 at the University of Malaysia Perlis City Campus, attracted competitors from 14 countries.
Indonesia emerged as the overall champions with four gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
Kenya’s best performance came in the men’s fairway doubles, where Ben Petros Moseti and David Wairimu Mungai reached the final against Indonesia. After a 4-4 draw in regulation time, the match was decided by a penalty shootout, with Kenya narrowly losing 2-1 to settle for silver.
The team added six bronze medals through David Wairimu Mungai and Jamiah Khalid in the men’s singles fairway event, Ezra Moseti and David Sang Ebenezer in the men’s fairway doubles, Dorcas Murithi and Jamiah Khalid in the women’s open doubles, and the men’s team of Ezra Moseti, David Sang, Ben Petros Moseti and David Wairimu Mungai. Kenya’s women’s fairway team also claimed bronze.
Head of Logistics and Technicals for Team Kenya, William Luta, described the results as encouraging despite the team falling short of its gold medal target. “This has been a very good performance, even though it fell short of our targets. We expected gold in several categories, but the team fell slightly short of the international expertise utilized by their competitors,” he said.
The team’s participation was funded by the Ministry of Sports, while Mount Kenya University (MKU) sponsored training and local transport.
Luta, who also heads Sports and Creative Arts at MKU thanked coach Mboya for his contribution to the team’s preparations. Team captain David Sang also acknowledged the university’s support, saying its investment in training was instrumental to the team’s success.
Kenya Woodball President, Antony Mwanzia, and Secretary General, Samuel Litaba, called for sustained government support to enhance international exposure as the team prepares for the 2028 Beach World Cup and the 11th Woodball World Cup in 2030.
Elsewhere at the championship, Uganda’s women’s doubles pair of Christine Birungi and Sanyu Mirembe won gold.
Meanwhile, MKU’s sister institution, Mount Kigali University, was crowned the inaugural Rwanda Varsity League football champions, after defeating East African University Rwanda 3-0 in the final to qualify for the East African Inter-University Championship in Uganda later this year.
By Muoki Charles
