HOW MUTHAIGA BOUNCED BACK TO RECLAIM TANNAHILL SHIELD AT ROYAL CLUB
Members of Muthaiga Golf Club celebrate with the Tannahill Shield after winning the competition at Royal Club over the weekend.
By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS
Giants Muthaiga Golf Club team Sunday beat Western Kenya by a big margin of nine points to reclaim the Tannahill Shield they lost to hosts Royal Nairobi four years ago.
During the final round of the Jamii Telcom sponsored tournament, the Muthaiga side which included a number a number of juniors, beat Railway 5-3, then made a clean sweep against Vet Lab (8-0) for 13 points, which gave them a total aggregate of 48 points.
The last time Muthaiga won the Tannahill Shield, which was marking its 97th anniversary, was 2017.
“We had a lot of support from the management at Muthaiga, plus we had a young team where our juniors were fired up and ready for this year’s tournament particularly after winning the Nairobi District Foursomes at the beginning of the year,” said club captain Dr. Khushil Nathwani, who also thanked the team captain Brian Njoroge and manager Ganeev Giddie for their coordination of the team.
During their Railway match, Muthaiga’s team of Bhavnish Chandaria and Taimur Malik beat Railway’s John Lejirmah, the Kenya Amateur Match Play champion, and his partner James Kamenchu 2-up.
Daniel Kiragu and Bo Ciera lost to Fidelis Kimanzi and Edwin Murungi 3-2, but Muthaiga later picked up two more points via Neer Chandaria and John Gitonga, who beat David Mbatia and Paul Orawo 6-5.
Njoroge Kibugu and Kushil Nathwani, who were un beaten in the tournament, halved with Edward Manywanda Kash Padam.
The 2021 Tannahill Shield arrives at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club in a chopper at the weekend.
In the Muthaiga and Vet Lab match, Bhavnish Chandaria and Taimur Malik beat Amit Modi and junior player Steve Orinda 2-up.
Daniel Kiragu and Bo Siera won 2-1 against Leo Zurovac and Isaac Makokha, while Njoroge Kibugu and Kushil Nathwani won 1-up against Krish Baiju and Watson Burugu. Finally, the last pair of Neer Chandaria and John Gitonga beat Jack Mwangi and Steve D’s Souza 6-4.
On the other hand, Western halved with Royal and beat Mombasa 5-3 for nine points to finish second overall with 39 points, while Limuru was third on 34 after beating Karen 6-2 and halved with Sigona.
Vet Lab, whose team was made up of juniors Leo Zurovac (17), Krish Baiju (15) and Steve Orinda, came fourth overall with 32 points.
Hosts Royal, who won the Shield in 2018 and 2019, tied with Railway on 31 points, while Mombasa finished seventh on 28 points, one better than Sigona and Karen was last on 18 points.
Speaking during the prize giving ceremony, Jamii Telcom chairman Joshua Chepkwony, whose company has supported the event for the past five years, urged the management of Royal to consider reviving the junior event, which use to take place before the main event.
“The survival of this game will depend on a strong junior programmes and this is one of the reasons why we accepted sponsoring it because we saw a number of teams embracing juniors. You can introduce a 55 years and over one day curtain raiser, but the emphasis should be on juniors,” said Chepkwony.
Besides Jamii Telcom and Kenyatta National Hospital, other sponsors were Development Bank, EABL, CPF, Instabet, Development Bank, EABL, Lucozade, AAR Healthcare, NCA, Crown Paints, Monster Energy, Keringet, Merican Limited, and Tysons limited.