Sombre mood at university games as student passes on during playoff match between Kenya and Egypt

The tenth edition of the All Africa University Games hosted at Kenyatta University in Nairobi was marked with grief and sorrow on the final day, (Friday) following the untimely demise of American University in Cairo student.

The student collapsed in the sixth minute of the opening period of their men's basketball third place playoff match against the United States International University-Africa (USIU-A).

The game, which was being played at Kasarani Gymnasium, was suddenly called off by the officials.

Efforts to resuscitate the player proved futile, forcing the medical personnel to rush him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The death was confirmed by Kasarani police boss Peter Mwanzo who stated that the student died while they were playing and efforts to resuscitate him were not successful.

Mwanzo said the Egyptian Embassy was informed about the issue and it is now their duty to proceed with the matter at hand.

“The embassy has been informed. They will use their internal mechanisms to convey the message to the family,” Mwanzo said.

Police Spokesman Bruno Shioso, while also confirming the incident said: “It’s an act of God. The boy was playing basketball and he just fell and collapsed, he was rushed to the hospital where they tried to resuscitate him, but it couldn’t work. The incident happened in the morning hours around 11am.”

At the same time, hosts Kenyatta University (KU) edged Makerere Business School (MUBS) 2-1 to clinch gold in the hotly contested men’s football final yesterday.

Benjamin Nazar broke the deadlock in the 26th minute to give MUBS  1-0 lead to the breather.

The hosts resumed the second half strongly with David Krop snatching an equaliser in the 62nd minute following a goal mouth melee.

Billy Clinton then scored a last-gasp winner to secure KU's to next year's World University Games in China.

“We are not used to conceding goals; we get demoralized whenever we are scored. Our defenders made the small mistakes that cost us in the extra time,” MUBS captain Herbert Abima said.

KU coach Tobias Ochola was over the moon with the victory saying: “This is a very momentous occasion for us, MUBS were dominant in the match but we managed the game and it paid off.”

Ochola, however, rued the chances they missed before they conceded the early goal.

The former Harambee Stars and Gor Mahia defender said he has already identified four players to beef up the squad before they depart for the global showpiece next year.

In other results, KU lost 77-74 to Johannesburg University in the men’s basketball final.