Kenya‘s Deaf Badminton Team โSet to Competeโ at Tokyo Deaflympics, Driven by Medal Hopes
NAIROBI,โค kenya โข – Kenyaโ will make its debut in deaf badminton at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, scheduled for Novemberโ 15-26 in Japan, with a โฃquartet of seasoned players aiming for a historic medal haul. The team โขcomprises Titus Kiprop, โข30, Josephโค Kago, 33, Teresa Wambui, 32, and Marylineโ Wanjiru, 31.
The โคathletesโ will compete across all โfiveโค disciplines: โmen’s and women’s singles,men’s and women’s doubles,and mixed doubles. โFormer โขnational top seed in men’s doubles,Morgan Kirimi,now serves as head coach,overseeing a rigorous training schedule of three sessions per week โขat Pumwani Social Hall and Nairobi’s Jaffrey Sports Club.
Team captain Teresa Wambui expressed her excitement, โstating, โ”I feel very happy to be among the โplayers who โคwill represent the country โขinternationally โคin deaf badminton for the first time. I aim to bring a medal back home.”
Wambui,born deaf in Kilifi โCounty,transitioned to badminton in 2019โค after playing football,finding a stronger passion for the sport. She and herโ teammates earned their โplaces through trials held in Mombasa, and are graduates of the Karen Technicalโ Training Institute for the Deaf.
To โprepare for the competition, the team has been training alongside hearing players, a strategy Wambui โคbelieves has been โinvaluable. “competing with hearing players hasโ been goodโฃ exposure because โthey are better players,” she said. “The training has been very โคintense. We โฃknow the competition at the deaflympics will be tough, so we just have to keep going.”
Coach Kirimi, a Badminton world Federationโ (BWF) accredited international trainer currently pursuing a certificate course in sports coaching at the University ofโ Nairobi, isโข optimistic about the team’s potential.”my target as โaโค coach is to bring fame to the country.โ Iโข am hoping to getโค some medals,” he stated.”The players are very keen to bring glory to the country because โjust recently โขwe wereโ told that if you win a gold medal,youโค will get Sh3 million,so every player is keen to get more package on that.”
