NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 30 – Kenyan wheelchair 3×3 basketballer Eunice Adhiambo says the chance to compete at the Commonwealth Games is one they savour for long despite a 20-1 loss to England in their Group A opener on Friday.
On their debut at the Club Games, the Kenyans were no match for the hosts as the English ran rugged over their inexperienced competitors.
Adhiambo is, however, adamant that there are more positives than negatives in the humbling loss.
“We tried our best and really tried to match up to our competitors who were far more superior than us. This is our first time competing in the Commonwealth and that is something we should really celebrate over. Even in the loss, we have learned valuable lessons that we will apply and hopefully come back stronger next time,” Adhiambo said.
“We are very happy to have competed in the Commonwealth even though we are sad that we lost. We never thought for a moment that it was going to be easy because our opponents have been playing this game for a very long time. So, today, their experience showed,” she added.
England raced to a 11-0 lead before Caroline Wanjiru scored the homegirls’ sole point in the one-sided match.
Adhiambo pinpointed speed as one of the key areas they need to improve on if they are to excel against Canada in their next match.
“You saw the way they move the ball quicker compared to us…that is one lesson we take from this loss. So, we need to go back to the drawing board and work on our movement in addition to improving on speed. When we get these aspects right then we promise Kenyans that we will turn in a better performance next time,” she said.
“At least, we did not leave empty-handed because we scored a point. It would have been embarrassing if we had failed to even score one. This is a starting point from where we can now improve,” she added.
