Team Kenya successfully defended the East Africa girls' Under 12 tennis title in Kigali, Rwanda on Sunday.
The team topped the round-robin tournament after identical 3-0 wins against Burundi, who finished second, Uganda (third), Tanzania (fourth) and Rwanda (fifth).
Seline Ahoya, Nancy Kawira and Natasha Akoth were in superb form, earning the praise from captain Rosemary Owino.
"The girls kept their composure and were determined to defend the title from the moment we began and they have done the country proud,” said Owino.
The girls won their final match by beating Tanzania 3-0 as Nancy Kawira beat Nasma Galawa 6-0 6-1 coupled with Seline Ahoya's 6-0 6-0 thrashing of Happy Daudi.
Ahoya teamed up with Akoth to thrash Faith Njamakaya and Daudi by a similar scoreline.
Owino said their next target is to play against players from other regions within the continent.
"Going forward, we hope to get competition from other parts of the continent, to test ourselves against better players,” added Owino.
The under 12 boys finished second behind Uganda.
"We had good wins over Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda with Uganda the biggest challenge. We must devise a way of beating them come next year," observed Owino.
The boys' team edged Burundi 3-0 in their final match with Ayaan Quadros defeating Nolan Gatuti 7-6 (4) 7-5 in a tough encounter as Jeff Okuku edged Niymbona Colin 6-4 6-1.
Okuku teamed up with Ainsley Elavuna to beat Dan Muteramphawe and Gatutu 6-2 7-5 in the doubles.
"Credit to the players. They acquainted themselves with the playing surface well and that really allowed them to settle into their matches very easily,” Owino concluded.
