Buddies Kotecha, Cheruiyot face off in ITF Junior tourney final

What you need to know:

  • The duo won their respective boys' singles semi-final matches on Friday at the Nairobi Club to set up the first ever all-Kenyan final in the international competition.
  • Both players are coached by Rosemary Owino and the tactician is also split on who to back saying that whoever wins will be worthy champions.

There will be no love lost when Kenyan stars Sheil Kotecha and Kevin Cheruiyot face off on Saturday in the final of the third leg of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) East African Junior Circuit Under-18 tournament.

The duo won their respective boys' singles semi-final matches on Friday at the Nairobi Club to set up the first ever all-Kenyan final in the international competition.

Top seed Kotecha easily dispatched fourth seed Amir Mohammad Adabjou of Iran 6-2, 6-1 while Cheruiyot, who is seeded fifth, overcame third seed Alexander Maarten Jong of Netherlands 5-7, 6-0, 7-5 in the other last four clash.

Cheruiyot reacts after beating Maarten Jong in the semi-finals. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |

In the girls' final, defending champion Daevenia Achong of Netherlands will battle Valeriya Rozenkova of Russia as she bids to win her second successive title.

However, focus will be on the boys' affair as the curtains come down on the three-week competition.

The two best friends have played down Saturday's clash noting that they will still be the best of buddies whatever the result but each is eager to end the year on a high.

Kotecha starts as a favourite based on his impressive run in the competition. He won the first leg and reached the last eight of the second leg.

"It is going to be a thrilling contest. I have played Kevin so many times but never at such a stage. I have had a good run in this tournament and I want to end it with the title," Kotecha said.

Cheruiyot, who is featuring in his last junior tourney, wants to bow out in style before he crosses over to the senior ranks.

"It will be a great match because I am up against my best friend but there is only one title and one of us has to win. In the last two matches I have had a slow start and I'm hoping to improve on Saturday," Cheruiyot told Nation Online.

UPPER HAND

Cheruiyot was eliminated in the quarter-finals in the opening two legs but has improved to reach his first final.

Cheruiyot holds the upper hand in the pairs' meetings (12-9) but Kotecha emerged victorious in their last recent meeting, a 6-4, 7-5 win, in the October Series tourney.

Both players are coached by Rosemary Owino and the tactician is also split on who to back saying that whoever wins will be worthy champions.

"I really don't want to pick a side but both players have their own strengths and elements of playing. It will be a fitting finale for Kenyan tennis," she said.

The duo were unable to clinch the boys' doubles final on Friday after they went down 6-7, 7-5, 2-10 to Matthew Beecher of Great Britain and India's Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli in the final. The girls' doubles final was won by the pair of Achong and Singapore's Maxine Ng.