Rwanda’ s second seed Jean Claude Gasigwa reached the quarter-finals of the Kenya Commercial Bank Open tennis tournament at Nairobi club yesterday morning. Gasigwa got a walkover to the quarter final stage after his opponent Derrick Owino failed to turn up for the second round qualification tie. Gasigwa, seed two in the Kenya Open had registered bright start in the first round of the lucrative event defeating Kenya’s Derrick Onyacha 6-0 6-2. In the other second round men’s singles, Martin Dzuwa eliminated Burundi’s Amadi Kagoma 6-2 6-1 to set up an all Zimbabweans quarter final clash against Amande Nyambande. In the first round, Kenya’s top seed Allan Cooper easily dispatched off Jack Omollo 6-0 6-0 and was due to face winner of the match pitting Kevin Kisoso against Shinichi Maruo in the second round by press time. The first round victory for Cooper who is also head coach of Kenyan junior tennis team marked his return to the local scene after a two-year absence and the results proved that he is still one of the top local players. The 29-year-old Cooper is a former Kenya junior champion who went on to represent the country in the Davis Cup Group III from 1995 to 2003. Talking to Times Sport yesterday, Gasigwa said, This tournament seems to be challenging because it has attracted many regional and foreign champions. It is not an easy go-through like the Uganda open which climaxed last weekend, Gasigwa has listed Kenya’s top seed Allan Cooper as the only player who may give him hard time in winning this year’s title. The five day event has attracted over 150 players from Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Ethiopia. The tournament ends tomorrow and winner in the men’s category will walk away with KSh68, 000, while KSh58, 000 will be up for grabs in the ladies category. Ends
