体坛英语新闻：Okutoyi to spearhead Kenya at Africa Tennis Nations Cup finals in Botswana

NAIROBI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's top female tennis player Angela Okutoyi has cancelled her intended tour of Australia and will be available for selection for the Africa Nations Cup in Gaborone, Botswana in November.

Okutoyi, who withstood pressure from her peers to win the Kenya Open, will team up with Ibrahim Yego, Ryan Randiek and Ismael Changawa while Kevin Cheruiyot and Sheil Kotecha have confirmed they will not be available for the tournament.

Francis Mutuku, the Tennis Kenya vice chairman said here Friday that the team will use the tournament as part of its preparations ahead of the Davis Euro Africa Group Two tournament in February.

Mutuku also said the Kenyan youngster has been invited to compete in the prestigious Orange Bowl Championship in Florida, USA in December.

"It is important to have our best player in the team heading to Bostwana," said Mutuku. "We hope the experience learnt will benefit the players in their preparation for the David Cup next year."

Okutoyi finished second at the Africa Junior Masters tournament in Tunisia, winning three of her four matches in the round robin tourney.

The Africa Nations Tennis Cup will attract players from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Swaziland, Mauritius, Madagascar, Malawi and Angola.

She also won the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Africa Junior Championships in Algiers in August and was part of the continent's team that toured France, Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic in July. However, the main focus is to excel in the Davis Cup in February.

Organizers of the Davis Cup will pit 12 seeds against the other 12 as 24 teams for the 2019 qualifiers, taking place in Feb. 1-2.

The 12 winners in February will join Croatia, France, Spain and USA plus two wild card nominees, who secured their places in the 2019 Davis Cup finals.

The wild card nominees are Argentina and Britain. Winner of the Euro Africa tourney in February will meet Canada in the finals.