By sportswriter Ben Ochieng
NAIROBI, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has named a squad of four players to represent the East African nation at the Davis Cup tournament that begins in Nairobi on Monday.
Rosemary Owino, the captain and coach of the Kenyan team, picked Albert Njogu, Kevin Cheruiyot, Ismael Changawa, Sheila Kotecha and Ibrahim Kibet out of a pool of eight players to represent the country in the world's premier tennis team competition.
"This year we have prepared very well for the competition, unlike last season when we suffered from the last-minute nature of the preparations and other factors," Owino said on Saturday.
Other countries taking part in the African round of the tournament are Benin, Algeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon, Namibia, Mozambique and Nigeria. Hosts Kenya are seeded second.
"The draw will be conducted on Sunday where Pool 'A' will feature five teams and Pool 'B' four teams. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals and the two winning teams will be promoted to Euro/Africa Zone Group II next year," Patrick Kamuhia, the tournament's assistant referee said.
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. The annual event is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and has been described as the World Cup of tennis. The 2018 edition is the 107th running of the tournament.
