Hockey’s Okumu says team picked lessons even after conceding 50 goals
National women’s hockey team captain Gilly Okumu says the team will leave the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with their heads held high despite losing all their four matches in a disastrous debut at the Games.
The Kenyans have been the whipping girls in Group B of the quadrennial competition, which began with a 16-0 thrashing by New Zealand last Friday.
This is after the Blades suffered another huge defeat at the hands of continental champions South Africa on Tuesday losing 15-0. The whipping girls shipping in 50 goals in four matches to reply as their campaign ended.
The result on Tuesday followed another heavy defeat on Monday, a 11-0 humbling at the hands of Scotland Before that there had been 16-0 and 8-0 defeats to New Zealand and Australia respectively.
“It is quite a privilege to come and compete at this competition against teams of such calibre. These are teams we often see on television during the Olympics and the World Cup and playing against them is such a learning experience. We are happy to have played at the Commonwealth and we will go back home with a lot of valuable lessons,” Okumu said.
“We played to the best of our potential, no one can say that we haven’t. It was always going to be a difficult task, but, we have really enjoyed the experience.”
