NAIROBI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Shufaa Changawa, who is nursing a shoulder injury, and Sneha Kotecha will miss the tennis Euro-Africa Group 3 tournament in Montenegro in April.
Kenya is hopeful to do well in the tournament, especially after they were locked out of the David Cup through a technicality.
Kenya, however, must be in their top game if they are to cruise past hosts Montenegro, Uganda, Egypt, Morocco, Ireland, Madagascar and Norway. The top two teams will gain automatic promotion to the Fed Cup Group II.
"It is a blow that some of our best players will not be making the trip to Montenegro. However, the country will still have a strong squad ready for the battle," said Tennis Kenya administrator Sue Odhiambo.
"What we are entering in the competition is a very young squad and they have been playing in various international tournaments. They will compete against the world's best players and we hope we can improve on our performance from last season."
The team will however have to adapt to the clay surface in Montenegro. In 2017, Kenya had a dismal campaign in Moldova, finishing a disappointing 13th after losing to Algeria. They equally failed to win against Cyprus, Ireland and Iceland.
"The training on the clay court will aid their preparation for the event," added Adhiambo.
Changawa has been ruled out with a shoulder injury while Kotecha who is not available for the task as she is playing in the Futures tournaments.
Tennis Kenya (TK) have named a provisional squad of five players including Judy Nkatha, Alice Owegi, Rosehilda Asumwa, Shanaya Gadaya and Radha Raja to carry the country's flag to Montenegro.
The team is currently in training camp in Nairobi to polish up their skills. Kenya will only enter four of the five players in the Fed Cup competition.
At the same time, Angela Okutoyi will be Kenya's sole representative at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior tennis tournament in Algeria from April 22-26.
Okutoyi will be seeking to improve on her ranking and get an invite to play at the prestigious French Open, Wimbledon or US Open junior tournaments later in this year.
Okutoyi will play in test matches in Tunisia and Morocco tournaments as part of her preparation.
