Funding woes take Harare wheelchair tennis off court

after the International Tennis Federation noticed the progress the country had made in developing wheelchair tennis.
Last year Zimbabwe were given the greenlight to host the second edition after successfully staging the first event.
But all is not well as the national association failed to raise enough money to cater for the tournament.
The wheelchair tennis mother body has been struggling financially and in February they had to be rescued by the ITF to send the women’s team to Kenya for the World Cup qualifiers.
WTAZ vice president, Olga Chisango, said they had no other option but to move the tournament to a later date to be announced in due course.
“We need at least US$5000 to hold an up to standard tournament. Not a single sponsor has come on board.
“When we took over in December, the association had nothing in its coffers, so the only option was to fundraise for donations,” said Chisango.
Chisango said the move had a negative effect on the players and the national association as the tournament is on the ITF calendar.
“The dates for the Harare Open had already been fixed onto the ITF calendar.
“It goes without saying that this affects planning for the ITF but they must also take into consideration the economic conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe.
“It is neither lack of effort nor organisational planning, but the money just isn’t available. We have been running the organisation entirely from our pockets ever since we took over.
“The other thing is that at the beginning of this year we also had to fundraise for the women’s team to go to Kenya and only after completing that exercise, could we look at the Harare Open.
“New dates depend on when we manage to raise the required amount,” said Chisango.
Chisango said the changes that have been made with regards to hosting the tournament have also affected foreign players who had shown interest in the tournament.
“Ten South African players had registered but withdrew when we changed our initial dates after the dates for the Paralympic games had been changed. In the end we had one female from South Africa registered,” said Chisango.
Chile’s Robinson Mendez, who won last year’s title, had already indicated that he would not be taking part in the Harare Open as he will competing in another tournament.
Moline Muza is the defending champion in the women’s category.