Changawa November’s best sports personality

Kenya’s top seeded tennis player Ismael Changawa is the StarTimes/SJAK best sports personality for the month of November.

The tennis player who is currently competing at the Karen Tennis Open becomes the fifth recipient of the StarTimes sponsored monthly award.

The American-based Kenyan player faced stiff competition from Geoffrey Kamworor who won his first major Marathon in New York, Kenya’s top Chess player 41-year- old Steve Ouma who is a Fide Master and KCB’s Ken Moseti who scored the winning drop for KCB against Homeboyz at the semifinals of the Impala Floodlit tournament and played a pivotal role in the final against Impala.

The 21-year old had an outstanding month winning the Rwanda Open after beating top seed Duncan Mugabe 6-1 6-2 in the final.

He did not drop a set throughout the tournament. A week later he won the Malawi Open after defeating Zambia’s Edgar Kazember 6-2 7-5. He also won the Malawi Open men’s singles without dropping a set.

He then partnered with Ibrahim Kibet to win the men’s doubles with a 6-1 6-4 win over the pair of Kazembe and Liberty Ndula.

‘Beyond my imagination’

Changawa was surprised with the award which was presented to him at the Karen Tennis Open at Karen Country Club where he was already cruised into the semi- final to face Ibrahim Kibet.

“This is beyond my imagination; at no point would I have ever thought I will be awarded for being the best personality of the month in Kenya.

“This is such a great surprise, thank you StarTimes for being the sponsors and SJAK for considering me for this prize. This truly goes a long way to inspire and motivate me to work harder. It is also an inspiration to other tennis players,” he said.

Changawa walked away with a trophy, a StarTimes 42-inch digital television set and KSh100,000 in prize money.

“Congratulations Changawa Changawa having been picked as Kenya’s best sports personality for the Month of November. Victories away in Rwanda and Malawi are exploits we truly need to celebrate and for sure.

“He deserves this special recognition, as a brand, StarTimes will endeavor to encourage our sports men and women through these monthly awards as a way of recognizing their dedicated efforts on the field,” StarTimes Director of Marketing and PR Mr. Japhet Akhulia said.