Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya’s wheelchair team will be seeking to improve their position when they play at the world qualifiers in Antalya, Turkey later this month.
In last year’s tournament in Vilamoura, Portugal, the men’s team reached the quarter-finals as the ladies’ side went a step better in getting to the semifinals.
Head coach, Peter Rakuom, said they will be going flat out as they seek to play in top-two places in both categories.
“Our performance last year was quite encouraging and I am confident this time around we can make it to the final and place among the top two,” said Rakuom.
Jane Ndenga spearheads the women’s team alongside the experienced Asiya Sururu, Phoebe Masika, Patricia Mativo, Rajib Abdalla, Ibrahim Matano, Itaken Timoi, John Wambua, and Caleb Odipo are in the men’s team.
Rakuom said with a fortnight to the qualifiers in Turkey, they have intensified preparations. “Training will be intense for the next two weeks ks. We want to be in the best possible shape and be in peak condition during the world qualifiers,” said Rakuom.
Ndenga said they do not know anything about the kind of opposition they will face in Turkey but was confident of pulling good results.
“While we expect to test our opponents on the ground in Turkey, we expect the event to be competitive because every team wants to go to Portugal,” he added. The team departs on March 14.
Elsewhere, Kenya’s top-ranked junior player, Angela Okutoyi made a winning start, beating Margarita Igntjeva of Latvia 6-1, 6-4 in the ITF World Tennis Tour tournament in Egypt
The country’s youngest Kenya Open champion is using the tournament as a build-up for the French Open in May. She is also slated to play in Tunisia and Morocco as part of her preprations for the second Grand Slam of the year in Paris, France in May.
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