National champs grab Nairobi slots, seeking to dominate tennis again

Kilifi

By Oscar Pilipili

Malezi School’ s lawn tennis players have dominated the National Secondary Schools Championships for a long time, winning every trophy on offer.

Last year, the players showed the rest of the country what stuff they are made of by sweeping all trophies on offer in the singles and doubles events in Mombasa. The trend is likely to continue after the institution once again grabbed all slots available in the Nairobi team during the provincial trials last weekend.

Amadi Kagoma and Shabani Yasin qualified to represent Nairobi in the boys’ singles category, with Jamin Luvembe and Richard Ooko making it in doubles. Celebrated Sakina Nshirinamana and Maria Godson finished first and second in girls’ singles to sail through to the nationals scheduled to start in Kisumu on Tuesday. The evergreen pair of Terry Odera and Melissa Brown will combine efforts in the doubles category, having won the provincials.

Players Confident

But the players feel they have done enough on the local front and are now calling upon Kenya Secondary School Sports Association (KSSSA) to push for the inclusion of the discipline in East Africa Secondary Schools Games.

Malezi School tennis squad. [PHOTO: MARTIN MUKANGU /STANDARD]

Nshirinamana observes that Malezi players are unbeatable in the local front and it is time they played opponents from other countries.

"I strongly believe no player can beat any of us (Malezi players) in the secondary schools championships," said Nshirinamana. "It is better for the KSSSA to include tennis in the East African Games for us to face new challenge," she said.

When contacted, Nairobi Secondary Schools Sports Association Secretary Moses Mbuthia referred FeverPitch to David Ngugi of the national office for comment, but he could not be reached for comment.

Nshirinamana predicted that competition would be among Malezi players come the Championships.

Little Resistance

"Maybe there will be little resistance from Mombasa players, otherwise it will be business as usual," she said.

The regional event had been a ball games show until this year when organisers introduced athletics in the programme. Odera and Nshirinamana join the team after a high performance training stint in the US.

Malezi School has won Nairobi Provincial Championship since 2004. Former players who helped to turn the school into an unbeatable outfit include Joab Odera, Rahab Mbugua, Asiza Butoyi and Owen Nyawalo. Malezi team for the games is currently participating in the Safaricom East Africa Safari Junior Tennis Camp at Sadili Oval Sports Academy.

The players will have chance to sharpen their skills when they play in East Africa Junior Tennis Championships starting at the venue tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Nairobi Province’s football and volleyball teams played build-up matches against squads from the Ministry of Local Government at City Stadium, yesterday.

Jamhuri Boys and New Jogoo Road will represent Nairobi in football, with Buru Buru and Hospital Hill competing in volleyball.

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