Kenyans fail to claim ITF boys’ trophy

Kenya’s Albert Njogu returns a serve to Abdoulshakur Kabura of Burundi during the final of their boys’ singles 16 and under of the East African Junior Tennis Championships at Nairobi Club on January 16, 2016. Njogu and Olivier Kigotho lost the final of the boys’ doubles in the ITF Kenya International Junior Championship at Nairobi Club on February 5, 2016. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |

What you need to know:

  • The duo went down 3-6, 3-6 to India’s Megh Bhargav Patel and Abhimanyu Vannemreddy in the final at the Nairobi Club.
  • The home players had beaten Chinese brothers Kai-Hsun Chen and Ying-Ze Chen 6-2, 6-0 in the semi-finals
  • The Indians saw off French boys Valentin Royer and Christophe Pognon 5-7, 6-3, 10-2 in the other semi-final.

Kenyans Olivier Kigotho and Albert Njogu on Saturday lost their bid for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Kenya International Junior Championship boys’ doubles title.

The duo went down 3-6, 3-6 to India’s Megh Bhargav Patel and Abhimanyu Vannemreddy in the final at the Nairobi Club.

As a result, Kenya will have to wait longer for an ITF title.

The home players had beaten Chinese brothers Kai-Hsun Chen and Ying-Ze Chen 6-2, 6-0 in the semi-finals while the Indians saw off French boys Valentin Royer and Christophe Pognon 5-7, 6-3, 10-2 in the other semi-final.

“It was my first final and I think we played well but we were not able to deliver crucial points. That proved to be our undoing,” Kigotho told Saturday Nation Sport.

The Indian lads got off to a blistering start, racing to a 3-0 lead before the Kenyans hit back to win the fourth game. However, they faltered in the next two matches as their opponents moved to 5-1.

Njogu hit 12 match point winners as the Kenyans won the next two matches to bring the score to 5-3, however, their resurgence was brought to a halt as their opponents served brilliantly in the ninth game to take the first set.

The Kenyans raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set but were unable to hold on as their opponents hit back to level to 3-3 before going in front and eventually sealing the game.

“We made a lot of mistakes in the second set having started brilliantly. They made better decisions than us,” said Njogu.

In the girls’ doubles, Adithya Karunartne of Sri Lanka and Draginja Vukovic were crowned champions after their opponents Jonea Bach (Great Britain) and Zara Lennon of Mauritius retired in the first set with the former leading 3-1.

In the singles final, Bulgaria’s Simon Anthony Ivanov won the title after 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over India’s Abhimanyu Vannemreddy while Adithya completed a double after clinching the girls’ title with a 4-6, 6-3,6-3 win over Marine Karine Job of France.