National badminton team representing Kenya
Kenya Association Badminton Kenya (BK)Confederation BCA (Africa)President Danny Solanki Current ranking 107 16 (2 April 2024) Highest ranking 65 (3 October 2013) Appearances 8 (first in 1980 ) Best result Runners-up (1980 ) Appearances 2 (first in 1979 ) Best result Champions (1979 )Appearances 2 (first in 1979 ) Best result Runners-up (1979 )
The Kenya national badminton team (Swahili : Timu ya taifa ya Kenya ya badminton ) is a badminton team that plays for Kenya in international competitions.[ 1] It is controlled by Kenya's governing body for the sport, Badminton Kenya . Kenya is one of the first three countries to compete in the inaugural African Badminton Championships in 1979.
History
Men's team
In 1979, Kenya emerged as champions of the men's team event at the 1979 African Badminton Championships after defeating Tanzania and Ghana .[ 2] [ 3] In that same year, Kenya also competed in the men's team event at the 1979 WBF World Championships and were eliminated in the group stages. The team were also runners-up at the 1980 African Badminton Championships in Beira.
From 2008 to 2012, the team took part in qualifying for the Thomas Cup in the African Zone qualifiers but failed to advance beyond the group stages.
Women's team
Kenya's were runners-up at the 1979 African Badminton Championships women's team event. In 2010, the team reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 Thomas & Uber Cups Preliminaries for Africa but lost 3–0 to Nigeria.[ 4]
Mixed team
Kenya were runners-up in the mixed team event at the 1980 African Badminton Championships . In 1982, Kenya competed in the 1982 Commonwealth Games mixed team event.[ 5] The team fell short and lost to all of their opponents in the Group A tie.[ 6] In 1998, the team competed in the 1998 African Badminton Championships and finished fourth.[ 7] In 2003, the team competed in the 2003 African Games team event. The team started their campaign with a 5–0 loss to hosts Nigeria . The team then lost to Seychelles by the same margin.[ 8]
At the Commonwealth Games of 2006 , Kenya's national team participated in the mixed team competition but did not advance further from the group stage.[ 9] Four years later, the team made their third appearance at the Commonwealth Games mixed team event. The team finished on the bottom of their group.[ 10] In participating in the 2014 Commonwealth Games , Kenya's national team was ranked the 18th seed for their competition . They finished last place within Pool B .[ 11]
At the 2019 Sudirman Cup , while Kenya was scheduled to participate, the team unexpectedly withdrew.[ 12] As part of an effort to improve the country's performance, Kenya sent 290 athletes to the 2019 African Games . As part of this effort, the Kenya national badminton team participated in the badminton events .[ 13]
Competitive record
Thomas Cup
Uber Cup
Sudirman Cup
WBF World Championships
Men's team
Year
Round
1979
Group stage
Women's team
Year
Round
1979
Did not enter
Commonwealth Games
Men's team
Year
Round
1998
Did not enter
Women's team
Year
Round
1998
Did not enter
Mixed team
African Games
Mixed team
Year
Round
2003
Group stage
6th
2007
Did not enter
2011
Group stage
2015
Group stage
2019
Quarter-finals
2027
To be determined
African Team Championships
Men's team
Women's team
Mixed team
**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Junior competitive record
Suhandinata Cup
African Youth Games
Men's team
Year
Round
2018
Did not enter
Women's team
Year
Round
2018
Did not enter
Mixed team
Year
Round
2014
Did not enter
African Junior Team Championships
Mixed team
**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Players
Current squad
As of 2 January 2024
Men's team
Women's team
Name
DoB/Age
Ranking of event
WS
WD
XD
Saumya Gupta
(2000-10-20 ) 20 October 2000 (age 23)
417
-
-
Maryann Makon'go
(1988-02-25 ) 25 February 1988 (age 36)
726
-
-
Kivisi Andia
(1994-09-29 ) 29 September 1994 (age 29)
-
-
-
See also
References