Juniors off to Egypt

competitions.
The Junior Davis Cup, the Junior Fed Cup and the World Junior Tennis Competition teams are expected to travel with Richmore Murape and Free-man Nyamunokora as the coaches.
Tennis Zimbabwe administrator Cliff Nhokwara was yesterday upbeat on the teams’ chances of doing well in all the three competitions.
“There are three tournaments that will be running in Egypt and these are the Junior Davis Cup, Junior Fed Cup and the World Junior Tennis. I am sure the teams will do well and will leave on Saturday so that they can have at least two days to acclimatise to the conditions in Egypt. The first games of the competition will start on Tuesday and the competition should be running for a week,” said Nhokwara.
Nhokwara said the Zimbabwean juniors will square off against other at least 15 other African sides that are expected to converge in Cairo.
Hosts Egypt, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Morocco and Ghana are also expected at the three competitions.
Nhokwara pointed that the bulk of the players had been selected from the team that represented Zimbabwe at the African Junior Championships in Botswana in April.
“We have Junior Davis Cup boys team which is made up of players who are 16 and Under. This team has Ronzai Saurombe, Tarry Mariga and Courtney Lorke. The Junior Fed Cup also has three players and these are Valeria Bhunu, Thabile Tshatedi and Lorraine Madingwa,” said Nhokwara.
TZ has also selected a boys’ and girls’ team for the African qualifiers of the World Tennis Competition. The boys’ team is made up of Alywn Mushonga, Tadiwa Chinamo and Ngoni Makamba while Nicole Dzenga, Karen Machisa and Karen Muswere make up the girl’s team.
With TZ indicating that they do not have financial resources, the players have had to fund their own travelling.
Machisa risked failing to join her colleagues in Cairo if she had failed to secure funding for the trip.
But a local sports company Sports Avenue, through its chairman Nhamo Tutisani chipped in with her travelling expenses by purchasing a return ticket for the player to Egypt.
If the Zimbabwe team succeeds at the World Junior Tennis African qualifiers, they will proceed to the finals scheduled for Prostejov in the Czech Republic from August 1 to 6. San Luis Potosi in Mexico will host the Junior Davis Cup and Fed Cup finals from the end of September.
l Second seed Innocent Mhere started his campaign on a good note when he beat Tinashe Zvamada in the Tennis Zimbabwe mid-term 18 and under tournament first round match at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Mhere beat Zvamada 6-2, 6-1 in his opening match of the tournament. The former Under-18 champion said although he won the match he was not impressed with the level of competition.
“So far the competition is not that high but I am really expecting more because I am still to face tougher opponents. I hope the competition improves during the tournament and will be better at the end of the event,” said Mhere.
The 18-year-old said he is hoping to do well in his next matches so that he can accumulate more points to retain his title as the number one player in the country.
“I need to work hard for my next matches because I am no longer the champion and I really need to play hard. I did not play the tournaments that were held in Gweru and Bulawayo so I lost points and I am now number two on the rankings,” said Mhere.
In other matches Kuzivakwashe Zvamada beat Alois Chinyoka 6-3, 6-3 while Tinotenda Alufeyo overpowered Godfrey Ngoshi 6-4, 6-7, 6-4. Zibusiso Ndimande had a walkover against Jorum Mukono who did not turn up for the event and Johannes Artzinger defeated Ngoni Mudoti 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
In the Under-16 boys Michael Gutu had a walkover on an absent Tanaka Rushwaya.
Top seed in the Under-14 boys category Keith Mwashita breezed past Batsirai Saurombe 6-0, 6-0 to progress to the next round while Farai Mahere overcame Senani Mandla 6-1, 6-0.
Nelson Madziyire cruised to the second round when he beat Bongani Mutetwa 6-0, 6-0.
Keith Wakatama defeated Waseem Karim 6-1, 6-2 before overpowering Alexander Dore 6-1, 6-1 while Anesu Chatikobo thumped Mohammed Naem 6-0, 6-0. He went on to defeat Miah Seongh 6-0, 6-0.
Seongh had beaten Frank Muchenje 6-3, 6-3 in the first round while Knowledge Ndlovu beat Joshua Denza 6-0, 6-0. And Beverly Matsiwe dismissed Ruby Rusanga 6-0, 6-0 in the girls 12 and under division. Tanya Kaome overpowered Tsitsi Mahere 6-3, 6-2 while Danai Chinhamo thumped Faith Ngwari 6-0, 6-0.