Tennis Kenya have named a provisional six-man team for the All African Games slated for August 19-31 in Rabat, Morocco.
Kevin Cheruiyot, Ismael Changawa, Sheil Kotecha, Ibrahim Kibet, Albert Njogu, and Ryan Randiek make the provisional team that will be whittled down to four in July ahead of the continental extravaganza.
Cheruiyot, Changawa, Kotecha and Kibet are currently playing in the Uganda Futures tournament as a warm-up for the All Africa Games as well as the Davis Cup tourney slated for September at the Nairobi Club.
Head coach Rosemary Owino expects the competition for stiff for the four final slots to be stiff. "We have a good crop of players and it gives us options on who to pick for the games and assess their form in this year's tournaments, ”added Owino.
The quartet has had mixed performances so far in Kampala with the Kenyans struggling to make their mark in the singles and Changawa teaming up with Guy Iradukunda of Burundi to win the doubles category after edging out Anand Kunal and Dev Prajwal of India 6-1, 7-5.
In the singles category, Kevin Cheruiyot lost in the qualifiers to Germany's Phillip Dittmer 5-7, 7-6, 10-5. Sheil Kotecha made light work of Suresh Gokul of India, winning 6-2, 6-3 to progress to the first round proper.
Kotecha was delighted with his performance in the qualifier and hopes to get to the latter stages of the tournament.
“The first tournament last week was not good. I made a lot of mistakes but I fell much more comfortable in this second week and my all-around play is improving,” added Kotecha.
He said the level of competition is high in the futures event. “It's a very competitive tournament and playing here improves your level and it's good preparation for the two big tournaments which are coming,” he added.
Elsewhere, Tennis Kenya will host Confederation of Africa Tennis (CAT) 14 and under championships from March 25 -31 at the Nairobi Club.
