The Kenyan Davis Cup team has shifted focus to winning next year’s Euro/Africa Group II playoff after booking a place following their last weekend win in Africa Group III tournament held at Nairobi Club.
Kenya progressed to the next group alongside Tunisia while Benin and Nigeria who were last in Pool ‘B’ and ‘A’ of the concluded tournament sunk to the Africa IV.
Head coach Rosemary Owino alluded that his boys will have to begin preparations in time as the next group is constituted of stronger teams. She said winning the tournament was an achieved goal and that there is always another goal to be achieved after. “Therefore, the team has to move to their next target and work towards achieving it.”
“Our win goes beyond just us. It is for the country. Winning two years in a row means that the boys have something we all need to believe in, encourage, motivate and support. Right now we have to go back to work and make sure we win the playoffs next year. We have achieved the goal we had set for ourselves, and now we are setting up shop to achieve the next one, which is getting through the playoffs.”
Top-seeded Tunisia will play Kenya in the playoffs next year. Had Kenya finished as runner up in Pool B, they would have played Tunisia last Saturday. Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri, who was the highest-ranked player in the tournament (42) inspired his team to qualify alongside Kenya.
Although the homeboys did not get a chance to play Tunisia, Ibrahim Kibet felt that accosting them would have been a great experience. “I was hoping we meet Tunisia in the same group because I felt like we needed the challenge to take us to the next level. However, our performance has shown that we are already there and we now need to believe in ourselves and keep on working hard every day as we prepare to meet them in the playoffs.”
The team is also looking forward to participating in Futures tournaments planned for Egypt and Nigeria in October and November respectively. Albert Njogu will, however, not be included since he will be sitting for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) later this year. The rookie who made his Davis Cup tournament debut said it was a learning experience for him to play in the matches.
“Playing in the tournament was definitely a nice experience. I learnt something new and that will help me perform better in my coming matches which will then see me join the seniors and represent my country.”
