Sibanda marches on

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Mehluli Sibanda booked his place in the quarter-finals of the ongoing ITF South/Central junior circuit at Harare Sports Club when he defeated Belgium’s Louis Herman 6-3, 6-0 yesterday.

Sibanda, seeded eighth in the tournament, prevailed over the unseeded Herman in a one-sided affair to progress to the last eight.

He is only Zimbabwean player who remained on course for the singles title.

However, Sibanda, who had a good day on court yesterday, should brace for a tough match when he takes on fourth seed Mohamed Abdel-Azizi of Egypt in the last eight.

Abdel-Azizi beat Luke Purser 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.

The 15-year-old Zimbabwean was pleased with his victory and said he stands a good chance of getting a positive result in today’s match.

“The match was good, I played really well because I had a good warm-up this morning. I played well compared to my match yesterday.

“My strength was my forehand today unlike yesterday and he (Herman) was making a lot of mistakes, so I took advantage of that.

“I just have to have a good practice session today to prepare for my next match tomorrow. These guys are quite good, they are not bad at all.

“But I think it’s 50-50. The guy I am playing is quite good as he trains in France,” said Sibanda.

Zimbabwe’s top player in the event, Tadiwa Chinamo, who was seeded second, bowed out when he lost to unseeded Cameron Petersen of South Africa 3-6, 6-1, 4-6 in a match that stretched into the third set.

Ngoni Makambwa went down to South Africa’s Richard Thongoana 6-2, 6-1 while Mzingaye Sibanda was beaten by Jordan Decloet 5-7, 7-6(0), 7-6(6) in a tightly-contested match that could have gone either way.

In the girls section, all local players could not last the distance with Keren Muswere losing 0-6, 0-6 to Ciney Bekker while Kimberly Bhunu found the going tough against Julia Vulpio from Dominican Republic.

Bhunu lost 2-6, 3-6 and Vulpio will now face second seed Diae El Jardi in the quarter-finals.

The other quarter-final matches will see Ghita Benhadi taking on Maxine Bateman, who beat Zimbabwe’ Taririo Dembo 6-0, 6-2.