adminNkosilathi Sibanda Sports Reporter
THREE of Zimbabwe’s tennis players each earned a medal but fell short of gold in their singles quest, with hopes now lying on the doubles finals which start this morning. Today Zimbabwe plays for gold in the doubles. Valeria Bhunu finished with silver while her partner Rufaro Chirewa bagged a bronze. The boys’ ace Ronzai Saurombe added silver for the hosts.
By close of play yesterday, Zimbabwe counted three medals in the bag.
Bhunu lost the singles final berth to South Africa’s Kate Poluta 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. The Zimbabwean held it well in the first set, giving Poluta a hard time with long shots. When it came to the second and last sets, the South African champion served low balls that seemed hard for Bhunu to scoop over.
Saurombe, who on Tuesday crashed out of the finals, booked a chance for the bronze and rightly earned it by beating Lesotho’s Kukutla Motlojoa 6-2, 6-3.
In the boys category, South African Francios Kellerman took gold when he beat Malawi’s Chisomo Lumeta 6-1, 6-1.
Chirewa entered the court unsure, yet she managed to overcome feared South African Caitlin Herb 6-3, 7-5. On receiving the bronze, Chirewa felt she had worked hard for it.
The only misfortune for Tennis Zimbabwe was on Mariga who failed to impress in the singles encounter.
Today, the doubles action resumes with Zimbabwe’s boys paired with the Malawians. The girls are likely to have it tough against South Africa.
Results: R Saurombe (Zim) beat K Motlojoa (Les) 6-2, 6-3; P Kate beat V Bhunu (Zim) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; R Chirewa (Zim) beat C Herb 6-3, 7-5.
Online Reporter