Kenya's first ever and probably the only pool player, playing the game while on a wheelchair, Collins Ochieng Agunda, has received an invitation to the 2026 World Pool Billiard Association (WPA) Parasport Heyball World Championship in Oslo, Norway, an event scheduled forJune 12–17, with a prize tag of over seven million Kenya shllings if he wins, a situation that has now left him in a state of dilemma.
Speaking exclusively to Radio Generation's Sports Garage on Saturday, Ochieng, who hails from Dunga Beach in Kisumu, explained how the invitation sparked mixed reactions, a jolt to his dreams, and a reality if achieved will now set him on the right career path in his life.
"I received the information from the Secretary General ( SG) of the Kenya Pool and Billiards Federation, Doreen Wandia," an excited Ochieng told radio Generation.
"I have done everything to make this happen. I had to first sell my washing machine, raise the money needed for a passport, which I received on Friday, but now, I need a way forward from here," said the 26-year-old.
Ochieng had to be raised by his grandmother, alongside four other siblings, after his father died, taking to school at Liganwa Primary in Alego Usonga Constituency in Siaya County, and only managed to make it to class eight.
Life became difficult, and he had to quickly graduate into manhood at a tender age of just 14 years; life forced him to fend for himself.
"I moved to Kisumu and started doing odd jobs, working in construction sites ( Mjengo), washing cars, pushing carts ( mkokoteni), and riding motorcycles ( bodaboda), to support myself and also my widowed mother back in Alego," Ochieng continued.
In November 2020, while in his usual routines, Ochieng collided with a post after his motorcycle had a failed brake, an accident that injured his spine, rendering his lower body immobile, and as a result, putting him in a wheelchair.
"That was the toughest time I had in my life, I have had suicidal thoughts, I had no one to turn to, and was mostly alone in the house learning how to make it happen without the movement of my legs," Ochieng said adding that, the following year in 2021, he took the bold step to play pool as a form of recreation and socialization, though on a wheelchair, he mastered his new found love against able bodied opponents.
Ochieng then decided to have fun and document his pool playing skills on his social media platforms like tit tok and Instagram, an attraction that enabled him to connect with the world, resulting to his invitation to this global pool championship hosted at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo, featuring a dedicated category for wheelchair athletes, with a total prize pool of USD 60,000, Ksh 7,744,344.72 at the current exchange rate.
According to WPA, the international event will have a total of 32 men, apiece, for the wheelchair and able-bodied ( standing), while in the women's category, it shall be 16 players for the wheelchair players and the able-bodied (standing) players, apiece.
Ochieng is now calling on Kenyans of goodwill, the government through the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports in Kenya, led by Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya, to come to his aid and make his dream a reality.