Sneha Kotecha storms Under-14 Masters semis

Kenya’s Sneha Kotecha on Thursday advanced to the semi-finals of the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) Under-14 Masters competition at the Public Service Club, Nairobi.

Sneha saw off Delien Kleinhansv of South Africa in 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in her second Pool ‘B’ match.

It was her second win of the competition after a 6-1, 6-3 win over Nigeria’s sixth seed Barakat Quadre in her opening match on Wednesday. The continental event has brought the top eight boys and girls in the continent as per the CAT rankings.

Sneha, who is ranked fourth in the girls’ rankings, will now fancy her chances of going all the way after an impressive start.

“Two wins out of two is perfect because it means I will continue featuring in the competition. I am hoping for a top two finish so as to increase my point tally and also improve on my ranking,” she told Daily Nation Sport.

“The level of competition is high but playing at home is a big boost and my family is here to cheer me on.”

In the match, the home player had to recover from going a set down against the big-hitting Delien, who is seventh in the rankings. The pair trade serves in a close first set before Delien got a break to go 6-5 ahead.

She closed out the set after Sneha served against the net to the disappointment of the home fans. However, the Kenyan recovered brilliantly to level matters in the second dropping only three games to secure a comfortable win.

The momentum was clearly with Sneha and she was brilliant in the third set as she raced to a 5-0 lead in the final set before Delien won the next match but Sneha kept her cool to see out the tie.

The Kenyan will on Friday face second seed Makayla Loubser from South Africa in her final pool match.

A win will see her top the pool and book her a date with the runner up in Pool’ A’ on Saturday.

In the boys’ affair, Kenya’s Ryan Randiek recovered from his opening day defeat to South Africa’s Carl Roothman, to beat Andreas Scott also of South Africa 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Ryan, who is second in the rankings, was in great form as he matched his opponent for every serve. His forehand proved to be the difference and it twice helped him break the South African.

Ryan will on Friday face Christopher Fok Kow of Mauritius and a win for the Kenyan will see him qualify for the semis.