Tennis Kenya ready to host first ever B10 tournament

Friday, March 17th, 2023 09:00 | By

Nock Secretary general Francis Mutuku plays tennis at the venue of the Beach Games yesterday. PHOTO/Courtesy

Local tennis federation Tennis Kenya is set to hosting its first-ever ITF World Ranking Beach Tennis Tournament this weekend in Malindi. The event will be a milestone for the federation and they are excited to host the event at the Kenya Beach Games.

The Tournament has attracted players from Rwanda, Spain, Germany, Uganda, and Sudan

Speaking while having a feel of the tournament venue, the technic coordinator Lawrence Karanja expressed his excitement and readiness to host the teams.

“This is a big event for Tennis as the federations prepare to host teams from Uganda, Rwanda, France and Spain. We shall be expecting 32 pairs, 16 pairs of men and 16 ladies. The draws are set up already and we’re test run tomorrow (Friday) with some kids,” he said.

Nancy Nduku, a player in the event said she couldn’t extend further gratitude to NOC-Kenya for the opportunity to make this event a reality through the hosting of the Kenya Beach Games.

“Beach Tennis is a rapidly growing sport around the world, and we are excited to see it gain popularity in Kenya. With its stunning beaches and perfect climate, Kenya is the perfect host for this tournament, and we are sure that players and spectators alike will have an unforgettable experience.”

2019 Commonwealth Bronze medalist Faiz Khan will be the guy to beat as he partners with German Torsten Salm with an aim of scooping more points and getting a gold medal for Kenya.

Meanwhile, the event schedule has been finalized, players are all expected to have arrived by Friday evening before the opening ceremony. There will also be activities around environmental sustainability.

On Saturday preliminary rounds will be played in all sports, wrapped up by basketball 3x3 in the late evening.

All finals will be played as showstoppers on Sunday.

Freestyle football was done as an online competition for over a week. Very interesting videos were submitted and good entries were received from across the country. Fans were able to vote by way of ‘likes’ on NOC-K’s social media. The entries closed today and the technical team is doing the evaluation to select the top three who will be invited to Kilifi to battle for the top prizes. This is expected to continue beyond the Kilifi Games, as we prepare for the second edition of the games in the Lake Victoria region later in the year.