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RISING teenager Claire Machisa is the new Harare Junior Tennis Tournament championship after she defied her tender age to win the Girls Under-18 tournament at Harare Sports Club over the weekend.
Machisa, fresh from anther triumph in the Midlands Junior tournament, won her second successive Under-18 crown after beating Takudzwa Mawisire 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
The 13-year-old Dominican Convent student had earlier upstaged top seeds Danai Chinhamo and Tsitsi Mahere on her way to the final.
A total of 70 junior tennis players from the ages of 10 to 18 years drawn from across the country took part in the tournament that is growing in stature each year.
According to the organisers of the tournament, the main purpose of the annual event was to usher in a competing environment for upcoming junior players as well as give them a platform to earn points which would in turn stand them in good stead for selection to represent Zimbabwe.
While there were upsets in the Girls section, the Boys Under-18 final went according to the form book with Kamal Mohamed dispatching novice Raymond Jessi 6-3 6-4.
Tinaye Badza and Nicole Matukutire were the winners in the Boys and Girls Under-14 categories respectively while Marko Malosivjevic and Tanatswa Musabaeka triumphed in the Boys and Girls Under-12 finals.
Harare Metropolitan Tennis Board chairman Collin Mahere paid tribute to the parents “for the commitment and support they have shown by bringing and staying with their kids throughout the tournament’’.
Mahere also hailed the young players for their discipline and good performances as many of the participants used the competition to showcase their budding talents.
The traditional Harare Junior Tennis Tournament, which is a springboard for development of the youth, is held during the April school holidays when players are able to travel from all provinces across the country.
Online Reporter