• Kenya lost all three pool matches.
•Kenya finished bottom of pool B.
Kenya's Fed Cup captain Caroline Oduor said they must go back to the drawing board after being bundled out in the preliminary round of the Euro /Africa Group 3 Zone Pool 'B' over the weekend.
Team Kenya lost all their three matches going down to Morocco, Egypt and Ireland 3-0 to remain bottom of the pool.
Oduor noted this is a wake-up call to her charges. "It was tough for the girls. We made a lot of mistakes on several facets of play and this being a team event, we were outplayed by very good teams,” said Oduor.
She said the girls need exposure in tournaments before they play at the Fed Cup. “Preparation is key. We need the girls to play in tournaments before they can compete at such a high-level event,” added Oduor.
Kenya lost their opening match to Morocco 3-0 with Alicia Owegi losing the opening singles match to Semlali Hind 1-6 ,5-7 as Judy Muraa lost to Atik Rita 0-6 0-6 in the second singles.
In the doubles category, Rosehilda Asumwa and Faith Nyabera were no match for Atik and Semlali as they fell 6-0 , 6-0.
In the second match against Egypt, Owegi was trounced by Sharif Mayar, losing 6-0, 6-1 as Muraa lot to Abdel Aziz 6-2, 6-0. Asumwa and Nyabera outclassed in the doubles by Abou Zekry and Rana Sheriff 6-2, 6-1.
In Kenya's final pool game against Ireland, Asumwa lost to Juliana Carlton 6-0 , 6-2 as Aisling Connor made light work of Owegi winning 6-2, 6-1 . In the doubles, Rachel Dillon and Jane Fennely edged Asumwa and Nyabera 6-1, 6-0.
Elsewhere, Kenya Open champion Angela Okutoyi bowed out at the quarterfinal stage of the ITF grade 3 tournament, losing to homegirls Ferdous Bahri of Tunisia 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Derrick Ominde lost to Olivier Rojas of Belgium in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.