Kenya face Cameroon in wheelchair tennis

Kenyan teams battle Cameroon on Saturday on the third day of the International Tennis Federation BNP Paribas Wheelchair World Team Cup African qualifiers at the Nairobi Club.

A win for the home teams will see them top their respective pools and also secure their places in Sunday’s final against the winners of the other pools.

The winners of the final will book their place in the World Team Cup scheduled for May 1 to 7 in Sardinia, Italy.

On Thursday, Kenya won their Pool ‘B’ men’s and women’s openers against Ghana and defending champions Morocco respectively to move top of the table with three points each. 

The hosts will fancy their chances against debutantes Cameroon, who lost both their matches on Friday against Ghana and Morocco.

Kenya coach Lawrence Karanja believes his charges have what it takes to make it to the World Cup and called on fans to turn out in large numbers to support the teams. “We put ourselves in a good position after winning our opening games and we are banking on home soil to take us through to the final,” Karanja told Nation Sport on Friday. 

The women’s team qualified for the 2014 World Cup in the Netherlands while the men’s team has never featured at the global showpiece.

“We have worked on some of the mistakes we made in the first game and I think we have the experience to go all the way,” he added.

The men’s team led by the impressive top seed Peter Munuve will be seeking another clean sweep having demolished Ghana in their opener. Munuve, will play Cameroon’s top seeded player Christian Jemmene in the first game before Kenya’s second seed Collins Omondi battles Paul Bessegui in the second singles match.

Munuve will team up with Rajab Athmani in the doubles contest later in the afternoon.

“The heartbreak of past tournaments is our motivation this time. We have a sense of belief this time and the support is immense,” Munuve said.

Kenya’s top seeded women player Jane Ndenga will come up against Maane Alvine in the first singles match followed by second seed Phoebe Masika, who will take on Lydie Mfoun. The quartet will then do battle in the doubles contest.

Kenya finished third in last year’s qualifiers.

In Friday's results, Tanzania men’s team secure their second win after they beat the Gambia 3-0 in a Pool encounter while Egypt recovered from their opening day loss to beat Nigeria 3-0.

Six women's teams and seven men's teams are taking part in the four-day event.