Celebrated tennis duo in awards short list
Jane Ndenga returns a serve from Lucy Muthama during the national trials for 2015 Wheelchair Tennis World Cup at Nairobi Club on December 17, 2015. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
What you need to know:
- Soya gala set for January 20 at KICC
- Ndenga, Munuve gun for honours in category for athletes with disability ahead of gala
Kenya’s wheelchair tennis stars Jane Ndenga and Peter Munuve have been nominated for honours in the category of athletes living with disability ahead of the Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Awards.
Ndenga, ranked 109th in the International Tennis Federation women’s singles wheelchair tennis, is Kenya’s top-seeded player, having led the women’s team to finish third in this year’s World Team Cup Regional African Qualifiers in Nairobi.
Ndenga also competed at the ITF Wheelchair Futures tournament held for the first time in Kenya and reached the final, where she placed second.
At the ITF- Africa Wheelchair Futures tournament in South Africa, Ndenga reached the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles categories. She partnered with Phoebe Masika in the doubles competition.
Munuve retained both singles and doubles titles at this year’s Britam Kenya Open. Munuve, who partnered with Rajab Abdalla in the doubles category, is currently placed 273th in the ITF wheelchair men’s singles rankings.
He also reached singles quarterfinals of the ITF Wheelchair Futures event held in Kenya for the first time. He lost in the doubles final.
At the ITF Wheelchair Futures tournament in South Africa, Munuve performed brilliantly in the doubles, losing in the final. He also reached the singles quarterfinals in the same tournament. He has represented Kenya in BNP Paribas regional qualifiers in all the six years the tournament has been held.
However, Ndenga and Munuve have a battle at hand in their respective categories that are dominated by Paralympians.
The women’s category has Nancy Chelagat, Irene Cherono and Nelly Sile while Munuve will battle Paralympic gold medallists Samuel Muchai and Henry Kirwa, among others, in the men’s category.
Chelagat was Kenya’s only female medallist at the 2016 Paralympics where she won silver in the T11 1,500m. She leads the way in the contest for the female athlete of the year.
Chelagat had won the T11 200m gold at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Grand Prix in Marakkesh, Morocco to qualify for Paralympics Games. She, however, finished fourth in her 200m heats at the Paralympics.
