Kenyans in action in the African 14 and Under Junior Tennis Championships in Togo

Kenya’s group of 14 and under tennis stars are on Thursday expected to begin their journey in the Confederation of African Tennis Africa Junior Championships main draw in Togo.

The youngsters include - Jeff Hesbon, Ayush Bhandari, Nancy Kawira, Michelle Murage and Seline Ahoya.

The group has over the past week been taking part in the competition’s warm up event that kicked off on March 11 to March 14.

The trio of Seline Ahoya, Nancy Kawira and Ayush Bhandari all got past the first rounds of the hard court warm up legs, all ending up on the losing end in the Round of 16 matchups.

Ayush Bhandari beat Kidiya Prince Daniel of Togo 6-2, 6-1 before losing to Komat Ghail of Morocco by 6-0 and 1-0 in the second set when he retired.

The East African Junior champs in Burundi; Kawira and Ahoya also secured sole wins over Togo’s Tossoukpe Bernice and Marete Naomie of Benin respectively.

Michelle Murage on the other hand lost to Zambia’s Khanye Akeelah in the first round with Jeff Hesbon suffering a similar blow as he fell 6-0,6-0 to Nsairi Skander of Tunisia - the same opponent he faces in the main draw.

“The players all had tough matches but better performances than last year,” team coach Rosemary Owino said on Thursday morning. “We will keep working on the direction we are on in general. The kids are dealing with the weather conditions very well and let's see how the next few days go.”

The next few days will welcome the youngsters to the tournament main draw that has the Kenyan players pooled as follows.

Boys - First Round.

Ayush Bhandari vs Edward Jonathan (Egypt)

Jeff Hesbon vs Nsairi Skander (Tunisia)

Girls - First Round.

Nancy Kawira vs Eduafo Collins Christabel (Ghana)

Michelle Murage vs Habib Habiba (Egypt)

Seline Ahoya vs Karen Osaji (Nigeria)

The winners from the Round of 32 will proceed to the next round of knockouts leading all the way to the finals set for 21 March 2023.