Kenya misses promotion to Billie Jean Cup Group II

Kenya missed out on promotion to Billie Jean Cup Group II after falling 3-0 to South Africa in the 1st to 3rd play-offs after settling for bronze as the curtains came down on the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Africa Group III tournament at the Nairobi Club Saturday.

While the contest drew a good crowd, Kenya started on a wrong foot as Cheruto Cynthia fell 6-3, 6-1 to South Africa's Gabriella Broadfoot in the opening match.

The second singles match saw Africa Champion Angela Okutoyi battle South Africa's Isabella Kruger with the latter narrowly clinching the tiebreaker 7-6, 3-6 in all sets, to seal a 2-0 lead.

The doubles match featured Angella Okutoyi and Cynthia Cheruto against the South African duo of Broadfoot and Vuuren with the Kenyan duo keen to compensate for the singles setback.

After losing the first set 1-6, the Kenyan pair bounced back resiliently, taking the second set 6-3.

However, South Africa's teamwork and consistency prevailed in the decisive third set tiebreaker, which they won 10-4, sealing a clean sweep victory.

Despite falling short of promotion, African champion Angella Okutoyi hailed the team for their imperious fight.

"This year, we tried our best, the teams were really stronger than last year, we just fell shot especially with Nigeria, we did what we could, we just didn't execute. It was all about team work," she explained.

Thanks to the win, South Africa earned the nod to represent Africa at the Euro-Africa tourney next year.

Kenya 3-0 Mauritius

Kenya 2-1 Tunisia

Kenya 2-1 Burundi

Kenya 1- 2 Nigeria