Jaiswal brothers take Kisumu tennis by storm

By Phillip Orwa and Nicholas Anyuor

Sandip Aditya, seven, and his 12-year-old Brother Jaswal Aditya from Kisumu Junior Academy are rocking the world of tennis in Kisumu at a tender age.

Sandip won the Mini-Tennis tournament for players aged eight and below organised by the Nyanza Lawn Tennis Association and sponsored by the Ministry of Youth and Sports at the Milimani Nyanza Club in Kisumu, beating Shadrack Ogola 20-17 and Daniel Odero 20- 16.

His brother Jaswal trounced Harsh Puroit 6-3 in the 12 and under category.

Their father, Mukesh Jaiswal, is happy with their progress and says that they sought the help of a coach six months ago after realising that their sons loved tennis.

"We sought the help of Nyanza Lawn Tennis head coach Bob Ochieng’ who is also the development officer of the Mini-Tennis who offers private lessons to the children every weekend and they are now doing well." said Jaiswal.

The coach, who is happy with the boys’ progress, says being with them every weekend makes them acquire new skills. Assistant Commissioner of Sports Jackson Indakwa encouraged the boys and asked them to take the sport seriously.

"Tennis is viewed as a fringe sport in Kenya compared to athletics and football, but we need to change this notion," said Indakwa.

Indakwa asked the junior players to work hard to represent the country at higher levels such as Youth Olympics.

"This year, we took our youth teams to the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and would wish to be represented there after four years. We will only realise this the youth work hard and improve their skills," he said.

Indakwa thanked parents for allowing their children to join sports.

NLTA General Secretary Martin Oluoch said they were pleased with the Ministry of Sports’ effort to boost games in the region. He said the ministry has sponsored the ongoing construction of a tennis centre at Kisumu Day High School grounds at a cost of Sh12 million.