Sheil Kotecha, Kevin Cheruiyot through to ITF Junior Circuit quarters
Kenya's Sheil Kotecha returns a serve from Gijs Akkermans of Netherlands during their boys' singles Round 2 match of the ITF East Africa Circuit Under-18 match at Nairobi Club on November 23, 2016. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
What you need to know:
- Top seed Cheruiyot beat Fabrice Tuyishime of Rwanda 6-4, 6-2 in the boys’ singles third round match at the Nairobi Club, while Kotecha saw off Gijs Akkermans of Netherlands 6-1, 6-3 in another third round boys’ singles tie.
- Kotecha had earlier dispatched Tanzania’s Said Hamisi 4-1, 4-0 in the second round to set up the round of 16 clash with the Dutch player.
Kenya’s Sheil Kotecha and Kevin Cheruiyot on Wednesday stormed the quarter-finals of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) East Africa Junior Circuit Under-18 tournament.
Top seed Cheruiyot beat Fabrice Tuyishime of Rwanda 6-4, 6-2 in the boys’ singles third round match at the Nairobi Club, while Kotecha saw off Gijs Akkermans of Netherlands 6-1, 6-3 in another third round boys’ singles tie.
The duo are the remaining home players in the first leg of the three-legged international tournament.
Kotecha had earlier dispatched Tanzania’s Said Hamisi 4-1, 4-0 in the second round to set up the round of 16 clash with the Dutch player.
The Kenyan was in imperious form against his European opponent dropping only one match in the opening set, which lasted just 25 minutes.
Akkermans did put up a strong challenge in the second set but was broken several times by Kotecha’s powerful forehand, closing out the match in under 64 minutes to the delight of the partisan home supporters.
“This is my last competition this year and I want to end on a high. It has been largely comfortable but tougher tests lie in the next rounds but I am ready for any player,” a confident Kotecha told Daily Nation Sport.
“It is a three-leg championship and my aim is to win at least one leg so as to improve on my rankings and also boost my confidence.”
Kotecha will on Thursday take on the winner of the match between eight seeded George Loffhangen of Great Britain and Polish player Jik Grezegorcyk, who were due in court later Wednesday.
There will be no Kenyan in the women’s draw after African champion Sneha Kotecha lost 6-3, 6-3 to top seed Celestine Ella Avomo of Gabon in the second round.
The 14-year-old Kenyan struggled against her West African opponent who stretched Kotecha in both sets before clinching victory in 72 minutes.
“She is a good player and I will need to work on some of my decisions in court. There are two more legs to go and I am confident I will bounce back,” Kotecha said after her match.
The first leg of the international tournament has brought players from 25 countries from across the world. The first leg ends on Saturday with the second beginning on Monday.
