Former Tennis Kenya (TK) chairman Patrick Gichira successfully defended his position as the President for East African zone and Vice President of the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) for the third term.
In the elections held last month in Antananarivo, Madagascar during the CAT Annual General Meeting (AGM) Gichira overpowered his closest rival from Uganda Cedic Babu by seven votes to three. In his acceptance speech, Gichira promised to continue representing the 13 countries in Zone 4 with vigour and commitment.
The CAT Zone 4 countries comprise of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Seychelles, Comoros, Djibouti, Somali, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Tchad and Sudan.
The re-election of Gichira is great news not only for the country but the region as he is in a position to push for the region’s specific interests in policies made regarding continental tennis.
In his past tenure, the region got increased hosting opportunities including major continental events like the African Junior Championships, African Nations Cup, Davis Cup, World Tour events and Wheelchair Tennis World Team Cup African Qualifiers for 8 consecutive years.
Wheelchair tennis was started by Gichira in Kenya and has now picked up in other East African countries. In eight years, Kenya has qualified three times to World Team Cup and Tanzania once. Tarak Cherif from Tunisia also retained his seat as President of the continental body.
