Smashers Challenge Cup Displays Excellent Sportsmanship

Wycliffe Okenye

The Smashers Challenge Cup (4th edition), presented by gold sponsor, RentWorks, ended on a high note on Sunday 14^thAugust 2016 at Karen Country Club with 31 junior players braving the cold to showcase their talents in the game. The juniors came from all over Nairobi, Kisumu and Arusha. One of the highlights of the tournament was the match between Wycliffe Okenye and Ricky Omondi in the boys under 18/21 finals.The two gave a magnificent display of tennis in a match that kept spectators glued to their seats. It ended by Wycliffe thrashing Ricky 6/4, 6/2.

Kigamwa(right) receives a trophy from Ms.Moraa of RentWorks

Indefatigable player Changi Kigamwa of Karen Country Club battled his way to the semi finals but was stunned by Ricky Omondi 1/6, 2/6. Despite Kigamwa's loss to his opponent, Karen Country Club had a reason to celebrate as this was the first time since 2010 that a seed from the club had reached semi-finals in the under 18/21 category.

Shana Mao

In the girls under 12 category, Angela fought her way to the finals where she finally lost to  Nasombi Khangati 4/1. In the girls  U14/U16, talented Shana Mao had an easy win against her opponents and went her ahead to beat runner-up Julia Khangati 6/1 in the finals. In the boys under 12, Edward Odogo played well but finally lost to Moses Otieno in the finals. In the boys under 14 finals, Evans Aminga thrashed Evans Otieno 4/2. In the boys under 16, runner-up John Onyango put up a good fight throughout the match but finally lost (narrowly) to Charles Ochieng 6/7.

The final results were as follows:

Girls

12 & Under

Winner: Nasombi Khangati

R/Up: Angela Aluanga

3^rd: Scovia Nafula

4^th Nduta Kariuki

14/16

Winner: Shana Mao

R/Up: Julia Khangati

3^rd: Shamiso Pemiwa

4^th: Shiku Njuguna

Boys

12 &Under

Winner: Moses Otieno

R/Up: Edward Odogo

3^rd: Ibrahim Oburu

4^th: Henry Ochieng

14 & Under

Winner: Evans Aminga

R/Up: Evans Otieno

3^rd: Jerome Kitonga

16 & Under

Winner: Charles Ochieng

R/Up: John Onyango

3^rd: Chris Kagunda

4^th: Jerome Kitonga

Boys U18/U21

Winner: Wycliffe Okenye

R/Up: Ricky Omondi

3^rd: Billy Jagero

4^th: Changi Kigamwa.

The Smashers Challenge series forms part of a Level B Tennis Africa Cup ranking tournaments, for players between intermediate to advanced level. Winners from the Masters qualify for the World Finals of the Champions Bowl (http://www.champ-bowl.com), a worldwide tournament circuit, to be held in Spain later this year. This particular edition was sponsored by RentWorks and Wilson Sporting Goods. RentWorks is a lease company that provides rental finance solutions to a global customer base comprising large and medium size organizations.