Team Kenya coach Thuku Rogoi has set his sights on promotion ahead of the Billy Jean King Cup Africa Group 3 tournament starting today at the Nairobi Club
Rogoi said they are keen to win the overall title this time around as they seek promotion from Group Three to Two.
"Last year we finished third and missed out on promotion narrowly. We have another opportunity to chase promotion and I believe the team is ready for the battle,” said Rogoi.
Team Kenya open their campaign against Burundi before taking on Tunisia and Mauritius ahead of the semifinals on Friday.
Rogoi will field Africa Games champion Angela Okutoyi who arrived in the country last week from Tunisia. She will captain the team that has Rosehilda Asumwa, Alicia Owegi and Cynthia Cheruto.
Rogoi said with the likes of Okutoyi and Cheruto playing in Tunisia in the past fortnight and Owegi and Asumwa playing in the USA collegiate tournaments, he believes the players are in good shape.
“I have been monitoring them and the results are quite encouraging. I am delighted they have played build-up tournaments and it gives us an edge ahead of the task ahead," he noted.
Okutoyi said she is unfazed by the pressure of playing at home in front of the fans because they are up to the challenge.
“ We had a good preparation phase last year and though we did not achieve our objective, we polished some of the areas where we went wrong and we hope to achieve promotion to Group 2," she noted.
The 2022 Wimbledon doubles junior champion urged Kenyan fans to turn up in big numbers to cheer the team in the five-day competition.
“We are asking the fans to turn up in large numbers and support us. This is the World Cup of tennis for us and we have an opportunity to gain promotion and play the best teams in the world."
