Malezi Hold Firm At Nationals As They Head to Tennis Semis

Jamin Luvembe

Henry Ayesiga (Boys Player 1), Chizi Mutsumi /Melissa Brown (girls doubles), JaminLuvembe/John Lutaaya (boys doubles) continue to brave the rain, as they march to the semi-fianls at this year's Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA), Term 2 National Ball Games held in Embu. In the boys singles, Malezi remains unbeaten as Henry does not drop a single game, trouncing Nzoia 4-0, Nakuru 4-0 and Lake Region 4-0.

The Girls Doubles Team Of Chizi/Melissa have played and won two matches, winning against Central 4-2, and Nakuru 4-1.

Jamin/John have not disappointed the fans, as they mauled Lake Region  4-0, Nzoia 4-0 and  Eastern 4-1 in their run to the semi-finals, which will be played tomorrow.

Kenyan in Finals of Smashers Challenge

Amon Muinde

Kenyan and Kibera Junior, Amon Muinde, today, for the first time in three years, made the finals of the Smashers Challenge Cup in the Under 16s category, showing hope that the country can equal others in talent. Amon who beat top African junior, Henry Ayesiga (Uganda) 4/6,6/1[5-10] in the group stages, struggled through the first set, to lose 6/0, before rallying to fight back, losing in a close 5/7 in the second and final set.  Henry, in his element today, had earlier won a tough match against top Kenyan junior, Olivier Kigotho 6/2 6/4 in the quarterfinals, then stopped upcoming talent Sada Nahimana 6/1 6/0 in the semi-finals.

Henry Ayesiga

In the boys 14s finals, Anthony Owiti slipped past Davis Matanda (Kenya), 7/6(3) 6/3 in a close encounter that lasted a little over 2 hours.

The Smashers Challenge Tournament is part of a series of challenges for junior players of intermediate to advanced level, and is recognized by the Tennis Africa Cup.

RESULTS

GSU-12

Alice Ayoma v/s Belinda Awino 7/6(5),6/3

Alice Ayoma v/s Elizabeth Sheila 6/1,6/2

Belinda Awino v/s Elizabeth Sheila 6/0,6/0

Winner: Alice Ayoma

Runner-up: Belinda Awino

2^nd R-up:Elizabeth Sheila

BSU-14

 Pool A

Davis Matanda v/s Charles Ochieng 6/0,6/1

Davis Matanda v/s Peter Kyama 6/0,6/0

Charles Ochieng v/s Peter Kyama 6/4,6/3

1^ST Davis Matanda

2^nd Charles Ochieng

Pool B

Antony Owita v/s Nigel Odhiambo 7/6(2),6/3

Antony Owita v/s Ian Okungu 6/0,6/0

Nigel Odhiambo v/s Ian Okungu 6/0,6/0

1^st Antony Owita                                                                     

2^nd Nigel Odhiambo

Smashers Challenge No.2 (LEVEL B)
BS 14
Tennis Tournament Planner - www.tournamentsoftware.com
	Semifinals	Final	Winner
1	Matanda Davis
		Matanda Davis
2	Odhiambo Nigel	6-1 6-3
			Owiti Antony 7-6(3) 6-3
3	Ochieng Charles
		Owiti Antony
4	Owiti Antony	6-4 6-2

BSU-16

Pool A

Henry Ayesiga v/s Amon Muinde 4/6,6/1[5-10]

Henry Ayesiga v/s  Josphat Garo 0/1 Ret. Won

Henry Ayesiga v/s   Sylvester Juma 4/6,6/4[10-7]

Amon Muinde v/s Josphat Garo 6/2,6/2

Amon Muinde v/s Sylvester Juma 6/0,6/2

Josphat Garo v/s Sylvester Juma 7/5,5/7[10-5]

1^st Amon Muinde

2^nd Henry Ayesiga

Pool B

John Lutaaya v/s Robert Kasombo 6/4,0/6[10-5]

John Lutaaya v/s Sada Nahimana 6/7(5),1/6

John Lutaaya v/s David Mukhwana 6/2,6/2

Robert Kasombo v/s Sada Nahimana 1/6,6/2[10-4]

Robert Kasombo v/s David Mukhwana 6/1,6/1

Sada Nahimana v/s David Mukwana 6/2,6/3

1^st Sada Nahimana

2^nd Robert Kasombo

Pool C

Shebani Kabura v/s Olivier Kigotho 1/0 Ret. Lost

Shebani Kabura v/s Ronex Otieno Not Played Lost

Shebani Kabura v/s Wycliffe Okenye 6/4,6/3

Olivier Kigotho v/s Ronex Otieno 6/7(4)6/3[10-7]

Olivier Kigotho v/s Wycliffe Okenye 6/3,6/3

Ronex Otieno v/s Wycliffe Okenye 4/6,1/6

1^st Olivier Kigotho

2^nd Wycliffe Okenye

Smashers Challenge No.2 (LEVEL B)
BS 16
Tennis Tournament Planner - www.tournamentsoftware.com
	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final	Winner
1	Muinde Amon
		Muinde Amon
2	Otieno Ronex	6-1 6-0
			Muinde Amon
3	Kasombo Robert		7-5 6-4
		Kasombo Robert
4	Okenye Wycliff	6-3 6-0
				Ayesiga Henry
5	Kigotho Olivier			6-0 7-5
		Ayesiga Henry
6	Ayesiga Henry	6-2 6-4
			Ayesiga Henry
7	Juma Sylvester		6-1 6-0
		Nahimana Saada
8	Nahimana Saada	6-0 6-4

Henry Ayesiga Aiming High

My name is Ayesiga Henry. I am from Uganda. I was born in 1997 and I am 13 years old. I came from one of the small slums found in Kampala, Uganda. Life in that area is hard because of the Hygiene and Health of the place. I was brought up by my Father and Mother. My family is made up of five children. We are four boys and one girl. I am the second born child. I was introduced in tennis by my father because he was working in a tennis club called Kampala Club as a grounds supervisor. The salary that he was getting was not enough to sustain us with all our needs. That made our life hard, because my mother had no job and staying in school was very difficult. I joined tennis at the age of 8 years, while picking balls for members at Kampala Club to earn some money and help my mother and I found the game very interesting. I started working very hard with the encouragement of my father and a member of the club, Mr. John Nagenda, who told me that tennis was my talent. One day, I was told that there was going to be a free tennis camp for all children at Lugogo Stadium, and many children went, and I got to meet Dr. Liz for the first time. Because of my efforts and hard work, I was given a tennis scholarship in Kenya, I have never been so happy and my parents are very proud of me. I finally got to go to Malezi School and I train to improve my tennis at Sadili Oval. My dream is that one day I will become a professional tennis player and a Lawyer after school. I also play basketball and football during my leisure time. I one day dream of achieving my goals and help my family, relatives and friends who need my help. Malezi has helped me to know myself and to discover who I am, and I managed to complete the primary school with good passes in KCPE and graduated to high school this year, where a few of us are now part of Sadili Talent Training Academy, which helps us balance between school and tennis. Through Sadili, I now play very well and have represented Uganda in Under 14 tournaments, and I am also number 2 in the 16 and Under and number 1 in the 14 and Under in the Tennis Africa Cup tournaments (www.tennisafrica.info). In April this year, I played the ITF 14 and Under Circuit, and was runner-up in the first event and won the second one, making me number 18 in the Confederation of Africa Ranking. I also work with younger children from the slums of Kibera every Saturday, helping coach and advise them, all of us are expected to do this at Sadili, and I find it very interesting mentoring other children and watching them improve. I know that it is not easy to look after me, and hope that more people will come out to sponsor more children, but this is my home now, and I am sure that Malezi and Sadili will help me to achieve my goals for the future.