•Three-time Kenya Open champion Ishmael Changawa, siblings Kael Shah and Keean Shah alongside Derrick Ominde and Ibrahim Yego will form the Kenya team.
•Eight countries will contest the championship including hosts Rwanda, Angola, Mozambique, Cameroon, Ghana, Botswana Nigeria and Kenya.
Kevin Cheruiyot has been dropped from the Davis Cup team ahead Group Four tournament slated July 26-30 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Speaking Tuesday, team captain George Oyoo, said Cheruiyot will miss out on the event due to fitness concerns. "Kevin is unfit. He has not been playing competitively in the last couple of months and so he misses out,” he noted.
Three-time Kenya Open champion Ishmael Changawa, siblings Kael Shah and Keean Shah alongside Derrick Ominde and Ibrahim Yego will form the Kenya team.
Oyoo said the squad is a blend of youth and experience, unlike last year's squad which was comprised of inexperienced players.
"This is a very strong squad and we know what's at stake for us. We have looked at every individual's form and their training and I believe we have a very good chance of gaining promotion to Group 3," said Oyoo.
He observed that this could be the most open tournament with all teams evenly matched. “There is no strong team or weak team. All teams have good players and it will come down to which team gets their combinations right in the singles and doubles category,” Oyoo noted.
The former player said training on the upgraded courts at Nairobi Club will aid their push to do well in Kigali.
“ The clay court at Nairobi Club is good for preps because it will be something similar to what to expect in Rwanda. We have acclimatised well and we still have another two weeks to fine-tune our preparations,” Oyoo revealed.
Kael Shah said they want to atone for their disappointing performance last year, where they lost all three matches.
They went down 3-0 to Morocco and 2-1 to Algeria and Namibia respectively in Algiers, Algeria to finish seventh and get relegated to Group Four.
“We learned our lessons from last year. It was a humbling experience and we now want to correct those errors and take one match at a time,” added Shah
Eight countries will contest the championship including hosts Rwanda, Angola, Mozambique, Cameroon, Ghana, Botswana Nigeria and Kenya.
Elsewhere, Alicia Owegi and Rosehilda Asumwa will join Wimbledon doubles junior champion Angela Okutoyi for the Monastir tournament next week in Tunisia. The trio will be seeking to amass as many ranking points as possible.