Kenyan tennis team coach Peter Wachira says they have achieved their targets at the African Games despite not winning any medal.
He said one of the key objectives was to use the African Games as a build-up for the Davis Cup, which starts in Nairobi on September 9.
He said as a team, they have made major improvements and thanked the government for walking the journey with them,
“This time around, the government has really walked this journey with us and we are grateful,” he noted.
He said unlike four years ago when the team failed to reach the third round in Congo Brazzaville, this time they managed it.
He said the players have benefitted a lot from the government grants and even the women have improved their rankings in ladies' singles to position eight.
In doubles, the ladies team comprising of Angela Okutoyi and Judy Nkatha, as well as Faith Omurunga and Alicia Owegi, missed the medal bracket by just a match.
The men, he said were equally not badly off as they reached pre-quarters in doubles where Ismael Changawa combined with Ibrahim Kibet.
He said Kenya were yesterday crossing fingers for the toss to go in favour of the ladies team after tying with Tunisia.
Wachira explained that this is a team event which features four players and comprises one double and two singles. He said if the toss goes their way, they will start their matches today.
“If this works, I expect the women to do well. The men are already out,” he noted.
If Kenyans are lucky they will battle Egypt, Gabon and Morocco. He said the best thing is that they have played most of the players on the ITF circuit.
“We have played all the players in the Egyptian Tunisian and Moroccan team and also some players in the Nigerian ad Gabonese team,” he added.
From here, he said they head straight into Davis Cup.
Kibet, Changawa, Kevin Cheruiyot and Albert Njogu will form the Davis Cup team which will face the likes of Tunisia, Nigeria and Cote d’ Ivoire among others.
He said facilities in Morocco are on another level and can not be compared with those at home.
Wachira said Kenyans are not far off and with a few build-up tournaments, they can be better. “We hope with time government will clear us to build tennis courts at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani as earlier promised,” said Wachira.
