Shiel Kotecha eyes successful title defence
What you need to know:
- Defending champion Sheil Kotecha gets his title defence underway on Tuesday in the second leg of the ITF Nairobi Junior Open at the Nairobi Club.
- The Kenyan, who won last week’s first leg, will take on Egyptian Shehab Abou Gabal in the boys’ second round singles category.
- Kotecha, who is the top seed in the competition, got a bye to the second round.
Defending champion Sheil Kotecha gets his title defence underway on Tuesday in the second leg of the ITF Nairobi Junior Open at the Nairobi Club.
The Kenyan, who won last week’s first leg, will take on Egyptian Shehab Abou Gabal in the boys’ second round singles category.
Kotecha, who is the top seed in the competition, got a bye to the second round. Gabal on Monday won his first round singles match 6-2, 6-1 against Faisal Alrebdi of Saudi Arabia.
The teen sensation is eyeing a successful defence but has promised not to get complacent this week.
“The pressure is always there as the defending champion and so I will try as much as possible to ensure that I just focus on the results on court and nothing else, Kotecha told Nation Sport on Monday.
The 17-year-old, who reached his maiden Kenya Open final two weeks ago before losing to Uganda’s Duncan Mugabe, believes his game is on the ascendency.
“I am enjoying my game at the moment and there is room for improvement in all aspects of my game,” he added.
He beat second seed Abdallah Fouad of Egypt 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the first leg last Saturday and the duo are favourites to once again clash in this week’s final.
Other Kenyans, who will be in action in the second round include, 16th seed Albert Njogu and Derrick Ominde. Njogu takes on number 10 seed Jaishvin Sidana of India for a place in the third round.
Njogu will be buoyed by his exploits at last weekend’s National Secondary School Term Two B Games in Nyeri where he won boys’ gold in lawn tennis for Nairobi Region.
“The result in Nyeri gives me the confidence coming into this leg but I am fully aware that it will be a different ball game and I need to be ay my best,” he said.
In the girls’ category, Sneha Kotecha and Faith Nyabera sailed into the second round after impressive displays in Monday’s first round matches. Sneha cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win against sixth seed Narindra Corrine Ranaivo of Madagascar, while Nyabera saw off Namibia’s Megan Kitango 6-0, 6-4 in her first round match.
Nyabera faces fourth seed Charlotte Navin-Weinstein of Great Britain in Tuesday’s second round match.
Kenya’s Mercy Wangui was a no-show for her first round match against Tunisia’s Sarra Ata.
