Kenya players in prayers before their openning match against DRC Congo during the 1st Junior Roll Ball World Cup at Moi International Sports Center Kasarani. June 22, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]
Kenyan teams continued with a good run on Day 2 of the inaugural Junior Roll Ball World Cup at the Kasarani Indoor Arena in Nairobi.
Clinical Christian Nyongesa steered Kenya to a 3-0 victory against Sri Lanka as seven-star Zuena Kasindi soared the country past hapless South Sudan with a 14-0 victory.
In the men’s encounter against Sri Lanka, Nyongesa notched a brace in the 16th and 22nd minutes to take his total tally to five goals in the championship. The other goal was scored by team captain Hassan Abdul in the 15th minute.
“I have been able to find the back of the net in all the matches because of the adequate preparations and good instructions from our coach. I think we are on course to winning this trophy. We look forward to tackling Tanzania on Wednesday,” Nyongesa told Standard Sports.
Kasindi was on the rampage as Kenya walloped Sudan 14-0 in the women’s fixture, scoring seven goals in the melee. Joy Mitchelle and Angel Wanja added a brace each as Hawi Lina, Njori Chelsio and Shanice Kendi also added a goal each.
Asked what made her tick in the one-sided encounter, Kasindi stated: “We trained for three months, so we are fit. We followed instructions from our technical bench, we had teamwork and unity during the game, and our passes were also very accurate.
“I truly feel honoured to take part in this tournament, and I hope that we shall emerge victorious.”
Assistant team captain Shanice Kendi said Kenya capitalised on the opponent’s relaxed back line to pump in the goals.
“We were no match for them, we did our passes with lots of precision that they could not handle, we hope to carry on with this same spirit as the tournament progresses,” Kendi underlined.
Despite losing to Kenya, South Sudan women’s captain Tabitha Ajok was happy to be taking part in the World Cup.
“We learnt lots of lessons from our Kenyan opponents despite the loss. The Kenyans are the queens of the sport, and we hope to play like them soon. I dream that one day South Sudan will rise to lift the World Cup,” Ajok highlighted.
In other results, India whitewashed South Sudan 14 – 0 in the men’s category.