Tennis Wheel Chair coach Karanja expects tough test in Olympic qualifiers

Lawrence Karanja, head coach of the Kenya Wheelchair Tennis Team says he expects stiff competition in Portugal in the Africa World Wheelchair Tennis Qualifiers from 5th  May to 8th  May 2021, but is confident his team will give their all to beat their opponents and win a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.

“We have been in camp here in Nairobi for the last 14 days and we have prepared well enough. We expect to collect points that will enable us qualify and also the players themselves are looking for points to upgrade their status in the world circuit,” said Karanja.

The Africa World Wheelchair Tennis Qualifiers have traditionally been held in Kenya every February of the year but was this year moved to Portugal due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Kenya will be represented by Jane Ndeng(Team Captain) and Asia Mohammed in the women’s category while Rajab Abdalla, Peter Mnuve, Collins Ondimo and Warioba Matano (who will join the team on Friday due to visa  delay) will fly the country’s flag in the men’s cadre.

Nancy Nduku is the Team Manager of the Kenya team while Lawrance Karanja and Peter Rakuom will coach the contingent.

Over 300 players will represent their nations for the chance to be crowned BNP Paribas World Team Cup champions in 2021, starting at the qualification event.

The automatic qualifiers for the World Team Cup World Group event are Great Britain, France, Japan, Argentina, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, USA, Korea Rep and Brazil. Four qualifiers and two wild cards will complete the 16-team field.

In the women’s category, the qualified teams are—Netherlands, Japan, Great Britain, South Africa, China PR, USA, Thailand and Colombia with four qualifiers completing the 12-team field.