Butali Sugar started their Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Men’s Premier League title defence with a 3-0 win over Green Sharks at the City Park Stadium in Nairobi at the weekend.

Assistant captain Zack Aura says his team is looking forward to a perfect season, particularly after landing on marquee signings among them Festus Onyango from Strathmore Gladiators.

Onyango proved an asset in the making when he drilled Butali’s opener before Constant Wakhura and Shammah Ademba helped themselves with a goal each to put the match beyond the reach of Sharks.

“It’s a new season and our ultimate goal is to prove that we are the defending champions by producing a polished display.  We have had a good pre-season and are hopeful to top the standings and eventually retain the title,’’ said Aura.

He added: “We landed on a few new signings who should help our course and one of them in Festus Onyango opened the scores for us against one of our key rivals. He (Onyango) is a box to box player who is a great inspiration to budding players.”

League statistics show that the top four teams are tied at three points and are only separated by goal difference with Butali taking the bragging rights of being perched at the top.

In the meantime, fans are in for a weekend treat this weekend during a tough encounter between former champions Kenya Police and Butali at City Park from 6.00 pm.

Police bullied off their campaign on a high on March 13 with a 3-0 thrashing of Wazalendo 3-0 as Sharks mauled Park Road 3-1.

However, Wazalendo did manage to make amends by dispatching USIU 2-0, a result that saw them join the bandwagon of teams tying in the top four positions.

In the women’s Premier League, defending champions Blazers were held to a 1-1 draw by USIU-A in a match of fluctuating fortunes.

Elsewhere, last season’s runners up Strathmore Scorpions maintained their unbeaten by edging Wolverines 1-0, thanks to a spectacular strike by Gilly Okumu.

Scorpions made a strong statement of intent in their season opener by defeating Slides 2-0.