Billie Jean King Cup Group II promotion
  • Kenya needed to beat Morocco to gain Billie Jean King Cup Group II promotion.
  • The Francis Rogoi-captained side ended up with a 2-1 defeat.

For the third year in a row, Kenya missed out on promotion to the Billie Jean King Cup Europe/Africa Group II following a heartbreaking loss to Morocco in their final match at the Africa Group III tournament held in Windhoek, Namibia from 4-9 August 2025.

Having beaten Botswana in the first of their two do-or-die promotion playoff matches, Kenya only needed a win in the game against Morocco to banish their previous failures.

However, it was not to be as the Francis Rogoi-captained side, try as they could, succumbed to defeat in the deciding Doubles match where they lost via a cruel tiebreaker, losing 2-1 to Morocco.

Billie Jean King Cup Group II promotion

Billie Jean King Cup Group II promotion quest

The Moroccans took the lead after Mallak El Allami beat Melissa Mwakha 6-4, 6-3 in the first Singles match.

Angella Okutoyi then gave Kenya a lifeline as she beat Yasmine Kabaj 6-2, 6-4 to tie the game 1-1 and force a deciding Doubles encounter.

The Doubles encounter proved to be closely contested as Morocco’s Malak/Diae El Jardi took the first set 6-3 against Okutoyi who partnered with Cynthia Wanjala.

The Kenyan duo however refused to lie down and took the second set 6-4 to force the match into a tiebreak.

The Moroccans managed to get the job done as they won 10-6 to book the promotion ticket while Kenya once again came short.

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Billie Jean King Cup 2025 Africa Group III pools and format

Kenya was pooled in Group C alongside Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Algeria.

Pool A was headlined by Morocco, relegated from Group II alongside Madagascar, Burundi and Namibia while Pool B had Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana and Uganda.

The 12 teams competed in a round robin format between Monday 4 and Wednesday 6 before the winners of each pool played each other in a second round robin between Thursday 7 and Saturday 9 to determine final rankings.

Kenya, Botswana and Morocco topped their pools to advance to the promotion playoffs.

The top team was then promoted to Europe/Africa Group II in 2026.

Nations finishing bottom of their pools (A4, B4, C4) also played each other in a second round robin, with the team finishing bottom of that pool then being relegated to Africa Group IV next year.

By Stephen Ochieng

Stephen Ochieng is Kenya's 3-time Sports Journalist of The Year (2022, 2023, 2024). He also finished as the 4th Best Young Reporter in Africa 2024 in the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Awards. Ochieng majors in football, rugby, athletics and tennis coverage with a a passion for feature stories.

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