The Kenyan shooting team braced the cold, rainy, windy weather over the weekend as they battled out for top prizes in the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) Africa Championship 2019 at False Bay Sports Shooting Club in Cape Town, South Africa.
Over 200 competitors drawn from different parts of Africa, Switzerland, Poland, Pakistan and the USA took part in the event that saw a good number of Kenyans emerge victorious in various categories.
The official round count for the match was 255 for the 15 stages and 7 for the Chronograph. However, participants were encouraged to stretch the counts as they so wished.
The Kenyan team bagged a total of 3 Gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals. Robert Nyamongo won Gold in ESP Master with a score of 328.67. Sammy Onyango competing in Master SSP won gold too with a score of 330.37 whereas another master Mohamed Omar bagged silver with a score of 334.17.
In Expert ESP division Eric Wachira bagged bronze with a score of 396.79. Soi Kilonzo won bronze In ESP Sharpshooter (426.39). Peter Njoroge came in second with a score of 450.74 to scoop a silver In the Sharpshooter CCP division.
In the CCP Marksman category, Gikonyo Mwangi came in second with a score of 621.17 to settle for a silver medal. In Pistol Calibre Carbine (PCC) Marksman division Geoffrey Pesa won gold with a score of 334.76
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In Law Enforcement, S/Sgt Daniel Mutiso won gold with a score of 410.74.
Being his maiden appearance at the annual event, 19-year-old Mahir Omar’s striking performance saw him scoop position 4 in CCP Expert.
Besides Robert Nyamongo who scooped 3 trophies in the competition, others who performed exceptionally well were Thomas Kiilu CCP Expert position 5, Ashu Sennik ESP Expert position 5, Alex Migwi SSP Expert Position 8, Dafton Mwitiki ESP Marksman Position 6, James Kariuki SSP Sharpshooter position 6, Alykhan Keshavjee ESP Sharpshooter position 7.
Elizabeth Cherono Onyango who was the only lady participant in the Kenyan team scooped position 14 in Marksman.
Several shooters complained of the bad weather which they said affected the visibility of the targets which had to be sealed to prevent them from getting damaged.
“We just stood there. You couldn’t even see where your round had hit but we survived. Away from that, the airline which I had boarded to Cape town took my shooting apparatus back to Kenya, I had to start all over again in having my ‘Item’ delivered to me in South-Africa on time for the competition. It was a nightmare,” said participant Dafton Mwitiki
Mohamed Omar echoed Mwitiki’s sentiments saying the targets were covered in polythene and you couldn’t quite figure out your aim, but IDPA being a defensive scenario kind of sport, people should learn how to shoot away from there comfort zone.
The IDPA 2019 championship saw over 20 participants who included a Kenyan, Jasmeer Syan get disqualified (DQd) for violating various IDPA rules.
The event which was flagged off by the CS for Sports, Culture and Arts Amb. Amina Mohamed saw a host of sponsors like SEAgas Ltd throw their weight behind the team. The National Gun Owners Association (NGAO-Kenya), Kenya Shooting Sports Federation (KSSF), Standard media and Triple Tap among others.
NGAO-Kenya Vice Chairman Sammy Onyango reiterated Kenya’s plans to host the IDPA championships 2020. He took the opportunity to invite all the participants to come and sample what Kenya has to offer in the sport.
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