Odera to concentrate on tennis

By Oscar Pilipili

Having successfully juggled basketball and lawn tennis for many years, Terry Odera has opted to settle on the racquet sport as she looks forward to a better sporting career.

Her decision to concentrate on tennis comes in the wake of a glittering show at the national schools games, where she finished second in the girls’ singles in Kisumu.

"Tennis has been my alternative sport to basketball, but I have now decided to make it my main sport," said Odera after losing to schoolmate Sakina Nshirinimana in the girls’ singles final.

"There is still time for me to put things right and perform better because I know I have not been at my best and I know that better than anyone else," she said in Kisumu last week.

School games

Odera, 17, has been continuously involved in secondary schools’ championship, where she has been playing tennis as her second sport after basketball since 2005. Although her interest in tennis was not as much, she formed part of the team that has been winning the national schools’ championship since 2005.

Her interest in tennis shot up when she played against World Number One Serena Williams during her two tours of Sadili Oval Sports Academy between October 2009 and March 2010.

"I realised I can play tennis when Serena said I have the potential to hit hard," she said. Odera’s morale has been boosted by her tour of Van der Meer Tennis Academy in the US, where she had a four-month stint last year. While at Van der Meer, she had chance to train with and play against top players from across the world.

She hopes to use the International Tennis Federation Junior Circuit as her return to competitive tennis. According to her coach, George Muga, Odera needs about six to eight months to perfect her skills, especially on building points and physical fitness.

"Odera has picked up the positive aspect of the game and she is arguably the player to watch in the next two years," said Muga after guiding Nairobi team to the overall title in Kisumu.

Odera showed her skills at tender age when she won silver medal in an under-13 ITF event in Burundi, when she was hardly 11 years old. She is the younger sister to Joab, another great tennis player to come out of Kenyas junior ranks. She warns that the sky is the limit in her pursuit of honours.