Teams arrive ahead of Davis Cup draw
What you need to know:
- Kenya narrowly missed out on promotion to Euro/Africa David Cup Group II after falling to Zimbabwe 2-0 in Africa Zone Group III play-off.
- This is the first time Kenya is hosting the Davis Cup since 2002 in Mombasa where the hosts featured in Group II.
Top seeds Benin were among three countries that had arrived by Friday for the Davis Cup Africa Zone Group III tennis championship due to start on Monday at the Nairobi Club in Nairobi.
Benin, who are led by the 2015 African Games silver medallist Alexis Klegou, trained at Nairobi Club yesterday, ahead of today’s draw that will be conducted by the tournament’s referee Ian Smith at Heron Portico Hotel, Nairobi. Also arriving Saturday for the six days championship were Uganda, who, however, will be missing their top player Duncan Mugabe, and Mozambique.
Namibia were expected in Nairobi last night while third seeded Algeria, Rwanda, Nigeria and Cameroon are scheduled to land in Kenya on Sunday.
The international tournament has attracted nine countries and is sponsored by Cyton Investments and Nairobi Sports House amongst others.
In the Benin team that is captained by Bruno Danhouan are Felix Hounkpevi, Magloire Yakpa and Delmas N'tcha while David Oringa will lead Uganda’s quest in a team that has Henry Ayesiga, Boris Aguma and Simon Peter Ayella. John Oduke will captain the Uganda side.
Second seeds Kenya, who are captained by Rosemary Owino, named their team on Thursday. The squad is led by Ismael Changawa. Others are Sheil Kotecha, Ibrahim Kibet and Davis Cup debutant Albert Njogu.
“The courts are in great shape and we are all set for the championships, said Tennis Kenya deputy president Francis Mutuku.
Benin and Kenya that are placed 79th and 86th respectively in Davis Cup ranking, reached the semi-finals last year in Egypt.
Kenya narrowly missed out on promotion to Euro/Africa David Cup Group II after falling to Zimbabwe 2-0 in Africa Zone Group III play-off.
This is the first time Kenya is hosting the Davis Cup since 2002 in Mombasa where the hosts featured in Group II.
Kenya, who first played Davis Cup in 1974, staged its best performance to reach the Europe/Africa Zone Group I semi-finals in 1992, hence missing to qualify for the World Group. The team had legendry Paul Wekesa.
