adminEllina Mhlanga Harare Bureau
TENNIS Zimbabwe president, Regis Bhunu is optimistic, the country will bounce back into the Europe/ Africa Group II soon following their demotion to the Africa Zone Group III over the weekend when they lost the relegation play-off against Georgia in Tbilisi.
Zimbabwe return to Africa Zone Group III after spending two years in Group II, having been promoted in 2014.
Before the elevation to the Europe/Africa Group II, Zimbabwe had spent seven years fighting for a place in Group II after they were relegated to the Africa Zone Group III in 2006.
Bhunu, however, believes with the current crop of players it will not take that long to return to Group II.
“All in all we lost but we played very well. I am not worried really because I think we are really in a position of strength compared to where we were before.
“If we look at the selection of the Davis Cup team this time around, we had a number of names which means there is continuity. We have players who will pull us back into Group II. They played really well. It was a competitive match.
“And the good thing is we have youngsters in our team, Mehluli (Sibanda) and Tadiwa Chinamo, who can come in and step up. I don’t believe we will go and spend two years in Group III.
“We are going to bounce back easily. At that stage you will see that our youngsters will be maturing, because if we look at the age of the current group, Benjamin, Courtney and Tadiwa, the variance of age is small,” said Bhunu.
Bhunu said the fact that there is continuity will also go a long way in the team’s quest for success next year when they battle it out in Group III.
“We were relegated with the same players who got us promoted. When we got relegated back then we had a pool of new players who could not cope with the level of competition.
“Our loss against Georgia was very close, 2-3, so we should be able to bounce back. When we went up (in 2014), we went up in a very competitive event. The teams there were very competitive, so we should not worry about the countries that are there (in Group III), we will rise again,” said Bhunu.
Zimbabwe’s team for the tie against Georgia consisted of non-playing captain, Martin Dzuwa, Mark Fynn, the Lock brothers – Benjamin and Courtney and Mehluli Sibanda.
However, their campaign this year had not been smooth as they missed some of their key players in both ties against Finland and Georgia.
For the first round tie against Finland in March, Zimbabwe were without the services of Benjamin due to college commitments. And the country’s top player, Takanyi Garanganga could not make it for the Georgia tie due to other commitments which clashed with the event.
Dzuwa, however, said they did their best despite the hiccups.
“The guys I had in the team they fought hard and I could not ask for more. They have their country at heart. We are going back to Group II,” said Dzuwa.
Online Reporter