adminLovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
ELEVEN junior tennis players yesterday left the country for Botswana for the qualifiers of the Africa Championships.
The players will compete in the Under-12, 14 and 16 categories at the Southern Zone tournament which is expected to start tomorrow and end on January 17.
The players are Mehluli Sibanda, Tanaka Chabata, Valentine Munyawiri, Bret Hounsel, Tawona Muhwandagara and Andrew Chigaadzira.
Beverly Mutsiwe, Munashe Kaome, Chelsea Dzenga, Claire Machisa and Nandi Manyorwa complete the travelling party as they are part of the team to take part in the girls’ category.
Tennis Zimbabwe spokesperson Cliff Nhokwara expressed confidence that the youngsters would acquit themselves well at the tournament and said the majority of them could qualify for the Africa Junior Championship finals.
“We’re leaving for Botswana with 11 players who will compete at the Southern Zone tournament in Botswana which is used as qualifiers for the Africa Junior Championships.
“As TZ we’re confident that most of the players that we have will qualify for the finals as we’ve always done in the previous years.
“We have a history of producing players who can play on the big stage and I don’t see any reason why we can’t repeat such a feat this time around,” he said.
Some of the countries expected to feature at the regional qualifiers include the hosts Botswana, Angola, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the Seychelles and Swaziland.
Zimbabwe Davis Cup player Takanyi Garanganga is a former champion of the tournament.
Mbonisi Ndimande, Benjamin and Courtney Lock are some of the players who have competed at the Africa Junior Championships finals.
Online Reporter