Kenyan girls clinch ITF junior tourney title
Nicole Agufana returns a shot to Mao Shana of Tanzania in the girls final of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-12 East Africa Junior Championships at Nairobi Club on April 29, 2017. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
What you need to know:
- The home girls beat Tanzania 3-0 in the final match to clinch the title as the five-day competition came to a close.
- It was however heartbreak for the Kenyan boys after they went down 3-0 to Burundi to finish third behind winners Tanzania, who beat Rwanda 3-0 to secure the title.
Kenyan girls on Saturday clinched the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-12 East African Junior Team Championship at Nairobi Club.
The home girls beat Tanzania 3-0 in the final match to clinch the title as the five-day competition came to a close.
It was however heartbreak for the Kenyan boys after they went down 3-0 to Burundi to finish third behind winners Burundi and Tanzania, who beat Rwanda 3-0 to finish second.
The trio of top seed Nicole Agufana, Cynthia Cheruto and Vandevelde Anouk completed a clean sweep against the Tanzanians, who could have also clinched the title with victory.
Kenya will now represent the East African Region at the ITF Under-12 Africa Junior Championship set for September this year in Morocco alongside Burundi, who will fly the region's flag in the boys competition.
Kenya’s coach Veronica Osogo was overjoyed at the end of the competition attributing the team's success to hard work and a never-say-die attitude.
“The cohesion in this team is simply impressive. They have worked hard and I think we wanted it more in the end and our tenacity carried us throughout the competition,” the coach said.
“If we play like this we can beat anyone in the continent. Our focus is now on our preparations for the September competition.”
As it has been since the first day of competition, Cheruto was first up on court and she easily saw off Faith Nnko in straight sets of 6-0, 6-2 in their singles encounter.
AGUFANA FLOORS MAO
Top seed Agufana continued the momentum as she cruised past Tanzanian's number one seed Shana Mao 6-3, 6-2. Agufana recovered from a slow start to stretch her opponent in the tie that lasted 47 minutes on the centre court.
With two wins in the bag, the doubles match proved to be a formality for the hosts but they ended in style as Cheruto teamed up with Anouk for a 6-0, 6-2 win over the two Tanzanians.
“It has been a good tournament and we hope to keep the same form for the continental event,” top seed Agufana said.
The Kenyan boys’ team comprising Brian Matekwa, Raymond Riziki and Edmond Nyabwari were unable to complete a double victory for the hosts.
Riziki and Matekwa lost their singles matches 2-6, 3-6 and 1-6, 0-6 to Kashidi Mussa and Addul Nuru respectively.
