Team Kenya had a mixed performance at the Africa Junior under 14 tennis Championship which concluded in Togo.
The Kenyan players in the singles category failed to make it to the quarterfinals. The girls' team of Seline Ahoya and Nancy Kawira only made it to the second round.
Ahoya, the top-ranked Kenyan in the tournament, lost to Achouri Wassila of Morocco 6-1, 6-2 in the second round to finish 15th overall. Kawira, on the other hand, lost to El Gerby Zeina of Egypt 6-0, 6-2 to finish 18th overall.
Michelle Murage lost to Habiba Habiba of Egypt 6-1 , 6-0 in the first round.
In the doubles category, team Kenya was bundled out in the second round when Ahoya and Kawira lost a thrilling three-set battle to Tunisia's Hamrouni Nadine and Saafi Rined 6-4, 6-0, 10-4.
The boys team of Ayush Bhandari and Jeff Okuku fell at the first hurdle in the five-day championship.
Bhandari lost to Edward Jonathan of Togo 6-0, 6-2 while Okuku lost to Nsairio Sander of Tunisia 6-0, 6-0.
In the doubles category Bhandari and Okuku were no match for Egypt's Karim Mostafa and Edward Jonathan 6-2, 6-3.
Head coach Rosemary Owino expressed confidence that the youngsters will produce better results in a year's time.
“There are positives to take after the girls won the first round matches. Going forward, we need to work on several aspects of play and they will improve,” Owino presumed.
She added: “Our team this year has an average age of 13 years. We will win the tournament next year if the athletes get the right exposure by playing in a couple of tournaments."
The four-man team is expected to take part in the Confederation of Africa (CAT) under 14 tournament in April at the Nairobi Club alongside other players.
