Junior tennis players at African Championships

Brighton Zhawi
JUNIOR tennis player Tadiwa Chinamo heads a group of six top players from the country who will compete at the under-18 African Junior Championships that begin tomorrow in Tunisia.
The France based Chinamo, who was part of the Zimbabwe Davis Cup team last year, will play in the International Tennis Federation Juniors Grade Two tournament together with his five compatriots.
The team includes South Africa based Mehluli Sibanda who is already in Tunisia and four girls Kimberly Bhunu (France), Sasha Taruberekera and Michelle Ncube (South Africa) as well as the locally based Beverly Matsiwe. Matsiwe left the country with the team’s coach Liberty Nzula last Friday for the tournament that will end this Saturday.
Nzula expects his team to do well in this ‘tough’ tournament that will test the players’ skill and resilience.
“This is a tough tournament, we will have a lot of players coming and most of them are well exposed.
“But our players have a chance, there is always a chance and the good thing is that most of them have been playing ITF tournaments and are better prepared,” he said.
The coach said Chinamo has a big chance to go far in this tournament.
“On his day, he can beat anyone,” said Nzula.
“He has also gained a lot of exposure and I believe he is one of the players who can perform well and go far in this tournament.
“The other players also have good chances. Like I said before, they have been playing tournaments from where they are based and that’s a positive thing going into this tournament,” said Nzula.