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Kenya: Qualifying for Group 3 Tourney a Major Milestone for Kenya

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6 years ago

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As the curtain falls on 2019, the tennis fraternity has registered gains in the sport.

The quartet of Ismael Changawa, Albert Njogu, Kevin Cheruiyot and Ibrahim Kibet was on fire.

They stormed the Group Three Africa Zone tournament in September after ousting Madagascar 2-0 to qualify as one of the two nations for the Euro/Africa Group Two play-offs. Kenya has been drawn against Indonesia for the March 2020 championship.

This was a great milestone for Kenyan tennis since the last time the country featured in the Euro/Africa zone was in 1992. Kenya was knocked out in the semi-finals with just one match shy of the world group play-offs.

With Indonesia now standing between coach Rosemary Owino’s team and Group Two qualifications, Kenya will have to play hard ball to avoid being relegated back to Africa Zone Group Three.

Before the Davis Cup, the Kenyan team competed in the ITF Women Tour tournament. The team comprised Judith Nkatha, Faith Nyabera, Cynthia Wanjala, Alicia Owegi, Shania Kaur Gadhia, Angela Okutoyi and Roselida Asumwa. However, they were eliminated during the quarters of the International Tennis Federation Women Tour at Peponi School in August.

The 21-year-old Nkatha lost 6-0, 6-2 to seeded player Paulina Jastrzebska, Wanjala was beaten by seeded player Lexie Stevens ranked 887th in the world in a two-set match that ended with a 6-1, 6-0. Asumwa and her twin Okutoyi lost to Paulina Jastrzebska of Poland and Tiffany Williams of Britain in the doubles. Owegi and Gadhia also lost 6-2, 6-0 to Mahak Jain and Sathwika Sama of India in their doubles match.

Earlier in the year, straight from winning the Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya), two Kenyan players led their team to clinch individual and team championships at the East Africa ITF/CAT Junior Championships (East African Zonals).

OKUTOYI SHINES

The championship started on January 7 and concluded on January 15, 2019, at Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club. Tanzania Tennis Federation hosted the championship.

Okutoyi, who was awarded the Most Promising Personality, and her twin sister Asumwa, who was awarded first runners-up Most Outstanding Personality, led the girls 16′ and under in winning all their round robin matches in the team event without dropping a set. Together with Alicia Owegi, the team beat Tanzania 3-0 and Rwanda 3-0 to finish top of the group.

In girls’ 14 and under, the team comprising Cynthia Cheruto, Radha Raja and Faith Urasa won the championships again without dropping a rubber. The team played Tanzania, Rwanda, Seychelles and Comoros. They won all the ties and all the rubbers 3-0.

In the boys’ 16 and under, Kael Shah, who is based at Sanchez Casal Academy in Spain joined his team mates, Derrick Ominde and Bradley Onsongo in dismissing all their opponents. The team beat Rwanda 3-0, Tanzania 3-0, Burundi 3-0, Seychelles 3-0 and Comoros 3-0.

In boys’ 14 and under, Kenya settled for second position as Burundi proved tougher for the young trio of Raymond Riziki, Edmond Ogega and Liberty Kibue.

Edmond won his singles match against Abdul Nuru 6-1 6-1, Raymond lost his singles against Kashidi Moussa 1-6 and 4-6. Thereafter, they had to play the doubles as a decider but the Burundi pair of Kashidi/Abdul Nuru won with a thin margin of 75-64.

Kenya lost 2-1 to Burundi, won 2-1 to Rwanda, won 3-0 to Tanzania, lost 2-1 to Seychelles and won 3-0 to Somalia.

The individual championships were dominated by Kenyan players. Kenya won all the championship matches except in the boys 14 and under category.