Kenya miss out on Davis Cup promotion play-offs

Kenya’s hopes of reaching the Davis Cup Africa Group IV promotion play-offs came to an end on Friday after a narrow 2-1 defeat to Ghana at Nairobi Club.

The hosts got off to a difficult start as experienced player Ismael Changawa lost 7-6(11-9), 6-1 to Ghana’s Samuel Agbesi in a tightly contested opening singles match.

Changawa admitted the narrow first-set tiebreak proved decisive.

“For me, it was just on my head. I felt I should have won the first set and after losing it, I kept thinking about it. But that shouldn’t be an excuse, he just played better,” said Changawa.

Agbesi, who had to contend with strong home support for Kenya, said he used the atmosphere as motivation.

“It was a really, really tough challenge to play against Changawa. Playing against the host nation, the crowd and the support was massive, and I kind of channelled that and used it as fuel for myself,” he said.

Kenya responded through Kael Shah, who produced a spirited performance to defeat Abraham Asaba 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 and level the tie at one match apiece.

The decisive doubles match then saw Shah and Zayyan Virani push hard against Agbesi and Asaba before falling 6-4, 7-6(7-5), handing Ghana victory in the tie.

Despite the loss, Kenya’s fate was ultimately decided by a complicated three-way tie involving Ghana and Botswana.

Kenya captain Rosemary Owino explained that all three nations finished with identical win-loss records, forcing tournament officials to separate them using sets won and lost.

“This whole thing was a three-way tie between Ghana, Kenya and Botswana. Kenya won one match and lost two, Ghana won one and lost two, Botswana won one and lost two. It came down to the number of sets won versus sets lost,” said Owino.

According to Owino, Ghana finished with a superior sets record of 10-10 compared to Kenya’s 10-12, giving the West Africans the advantage and ending Kenya’s hopes of progressing to the promotion play-offs.

“It literally came down to the small points within the match,” she added.

While disappointed to miss out on a chance to fight for promotion to Africa Group III, Owino praised her young team for their determination throughout the tournament.

“The boys gave it their all. Ismael fought very hard, Kael fought really, really well and won his match to give us a chance. They played with big hearts and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” she said.

The coach also dismissed suggestions that Kenya’s youthful squad lacked the quality to compete with the continent’s best teams.

“I think they played at the same level as all the other teams. They were fearless the whole time. To me, this shows exactly what we’re talking about. They are at the same level; it’s just the small things here and there.”

Kenya will now face Mozambique in Saturday’s, June 20, classification play-off as they seek to maintain their position in Africa Group IV and continue building towards a future promotion challenge.