By his standards, tennis ace David Oringa feels he underachieved last year. A consolatory gold medal for UCU at the Inter-university Games is all he managed to scoop in the singles’ tournaments he played in the region.
In the same year, Oringa failed to defend his Uganda Open title after he lost 3-6 3-6 to Rwanda’s Dieudonne Habiyambere at semifinals. But with the Kenya Open in sight, Oringa wants to make a sounding comeback. “Ending last year without a singles title still haunts me most especially failing to defend the Uganda Open,” Oringa told Kawowo Sports. “I didn’t give my best last year because of a new school schedule which I am now used to,” he said.
A month ago, Oringa played two ITF Egypt Futures and despite failing to make the main draw in one and losing out 7-5 3-6 6-3 at the first round to Russian Ilya Vasilyev in another, he is confident of defeating opponents at Nairobi Club.
“In Egypt, I met several experienced players whom I learnt a lot from,” he said. “My target is to endure and make the finals of all events I play this year.”
DAVID ORINGA FACTFILE
Date of birth: October 9, 1993
Role Model: Roger Federer
Height: 6ft 7 inch
ATP Ranking: 1821
HONOURS
2012 Uganda Open Singles (1st) USPA Tennis Player of the year, Tanzania Open Singles (2nd) 2013 Kenya Open doubles (1st) ITF Rwanda Money Circuit (2nd)