Premium
Equity win overall title as curtains fall on Inter-bank competition
Runners participate in a run during inter-bank sports competition held at Kenya School of Monetary Studies grounds in Nairobi on October 28, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Equity, who had finished second last year, shrugged of stiff competition to garner 1061 points ahead of KCB (971)and ABSA (970) who finished in the second and third positions respectively
- Chief Guest Deputy Governor, The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Susan Koech said the coming together of banks despite the competitive nature of the industry demonstrates right to human capital
- KCB won both the men and women's handball titles, defeating Equity 18-13 in the men's match while the women's team whitewashed NCBA 22-2
Equity Bank are the winners of this year's edition of the Inter-bank sports competition that ended at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi on Saturday.
Equity, who had finished second last year, shrugged of stiff competition to garner 1061 points ahead of KCB (971)and ABSA (970) who finished in the second and third positions respectively.
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), who were the winners last year, finished fourth with 938 points.
The event which brought together 35 banks, featured 38 disciplines including athletics, football, darts, basketball, volleyball, chess, golf ,handball, squash, netball, tug of war among others.
Speaking during the closing ceremony, Chief Guest Deputy Governor, The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Susan Koech said the coming together of banks despite the competitive nature of the industry demonstrates right to human capital.
"The increase in number of banks that participated in the event has shown growth and we hope to build solid bonds going forward. I call on us to continue being innovative, efficient and committed in our various banks to make Nairobi and more so this region to be a financial hub," said Koech.
Among the sports that Equity dominated were volleyball, 800m,100m and 400m men's race and basketball women.
Equity, who compete in the Kenya Volleyball Federation men's National League beat Cooperative Bank 3-1 to emerge winners while CBK defeated KCB 3-1 to finish third.
Abraham Kiprono, a volleyball player won both the 800m and 400m races with a time of 1:58.3 and 51.8.
In the 800m, Kiprono finished ahead of compatriot Denson Loroet (2:06.8) and Central Bank of Kenya Peter Gitanga (2:08.4).
In the 400m, Benjamin Mulanda (52.3) and Alvin Mise (56.0) both of Post Bank finished in the second and third position respectively.
In the men's 100m race, Simon Ekitela posted a time of 11.31 to win ahead of Julius Calvin (11.51) and Derrick Otieno (11.61) of Co-operative and KCB respectively.
KCB won both the men and women's handball titles, defeating Equity 18-13 in the men's match while the women's team whitewashed NCBA 22-2.
KCB men's team captain Fidel Alai said the win was timely as they plan to join the Kenya Handball Federation National League next season.
"We have defended the title and I think the time was ripe for us to join the league. The conversation is there. KCB is dominant in almost all sports in the country and I think having handball in the mix would be perfect.
"Banking industry is busy and demanding and getting a chance like this to just loosen up is a good thing. It kills the boredom and in a way reduces mental illness that has been on the rise," said Alai.
KCB also won the tug of war competition in the men's category with 33 points ahead of ABSA (32), while Cooperative and NCBA tied third with 31 points.
ABSA won in the women's category with 33 points as KCB (32), CBK and Equity tied for third on 31 points.
KCB also reigned supreme in the men's football with a slim 1-0 win over Bank of Africa (BOA). Samuel Mwangi scored the lone goal in the second half.
ABSA dominated in the women's tug of war, basketball and squash.
In the 400m CEO's race, Ronald Marambi (1:18.43) of Bank of Africa (BOA), Joshua Oigara (1:18.85) of Stanbic, Gerald Warui (1:20.62) of Equity, Nitin Shedye (1:24.21) of M.Oriental and Abdi Mohamed (1:24.36) of ABSA occupied the first five positions in that order.
