National Under 20 head coach Robert Ngisirei is confident Kenya will retain the overall title at this year’s global championships to be held in Cali, Colombia from August 1 to 6. 

Kenya emerged top in last year’s championships held in Nairobi with a total of 16 medals; eight gold, one silver and seven bronze.  

Ngisirei said Team Kenya is targeting a minimum of 10 gold medals in this year’s championships. 

“This year, we are praying that we win at least 10 gold medals in Colombia. Last year we managed to defend our title at home with the highest medal tally. Our bare minimum this year is to win the title for a third successive year and that requires a lot of work to be done,” Ngisirei said. 

Ngisirei’s first outing as Team Kenya head coach was at the World Youth Championships in Australia in 1996, where they finished second in the world standing. 

He also led the World Youth team to the 1999 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland also finishing second but his highest achievement came in 2010 at the World Junior in Toronto, Canada when they won the overall title. 

  In addition to the two world titles, he is also accredited to the 2015 World Youth in Cali, Colombia title. But his lowest moment came when Kenya, for the first time, held the World Under 18 Championships at Moi Stadium, Kasarani in 2017. 

Ngisirei said it was a bad championship after losing the overall title on home ground.