The men's hockey team that participated in the 1971 tournament, where they finished fourth. [Photo/Courtesy]
Hockey is not one of the standout games in the country in Kenya. The game was, however, one of the many that Kenya used to perform well in yesteryears.
Kenyan clubs have dominated the continent in the recent past, with the Telkom Kenya ladies team the standout team has won numerous local and continental titles.
Back in the 1960s, the unknown country by the name Kenya was one of the top teams in the world. Kenya had the best finish (sixth) in the 1964 Olympic Games, having participated in every tournament from 1956 until 1972. The country could again go on to make two more appearances in 1984 and 1988.
However, the team's best performance ever was in 1971 when they finished 4th at the world cup with stunning victories over West Germany, beating them 3-0 and 2-1.
Kenya had some of the best players then, with Avtar Singh scoring 4 goals in that tournament to finish as the second-leading scorer.
In 1964, Kenya yet again shocked the world by recording wins over giants Australia (1-0), Great Britain (1-0), New Zealand (3-2) and the biggest shock of them all, a 3-1 win over the Netherlands. Kenya finished 6th out of 15 teams.
Early hockey teams were made up of purely Indians of Kenyan descent, but in the 1980s, indigenous Kenyans had made their way into the team.
Kenya also won the gold medal at the 1987 All Africa games.