adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
FIVE junior tennis players left the country yesterday for the 14-and-Under Africa Junior Championships starting on March 26 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The event will see young players from across the continent fighting for honours in the boys and girls sections for six days.
Zimbabwe will be represented by Ethan Sibanda, Lyle Zaloumis and Tinaye Badza in the boys section while the pair of Nicole Matukutire and Claire Machisa carry the country’s hopes in the girls’ category.
The competition, which is running until March 31, will be preceded by a warm-up tournament starting tomorrow and will end on Sunday.
It will be an opportunity for the players to fine-tune their skills just before the actual competition begins.
The players will be led by coach Farayi Tapfuma.
He was one of the coaches at the zonals held in January, in Botswana.
Sibanda and Machisa qualified for the championships because of their Confederation of African Tennis rankings while Zaloumis, Badza and Matukutire made the cut during the zonals event.
Machisa was also at the zonals competition where she reached the semi-finals.
“Ethan was an automatic entry because the selection system for the AJC changed, they are now using more CAT rankings as well as the zonals. He is fifth and they were taking the top 14, then others were coming from zonals and wild cards for the hosting country.
“For us we are expecting especially the Under-14 boys to win the age-group.
“One of the top players we played him in Egypt and since he is coming out of his comfort zone I think we can beat him.
“Ethan is playing more in Pretoria, so I think it will be an advantage for him. Lyle on the entry list is around 21 and Tinaye is 27 on the acceptance list, so I think they might also have chances if they do their best,” said Tapfuma.
In the girls section, the limelight will be on Matukutire having won the zonals in January to earn herself a place in the African championships.
Online Reporter