Tennis players for Botswana tourney

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe tennis players set to take part in the African Junior Championships Zonal in Gaborone, Botswana, rounded off their preparations yesterday at Harare Sports Club with coach, Miracle Matanga, confident they will leave their mark.
The tournament starts on Sunday and will run until next Saturday with participants, drawn from different countries, taking part in the Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16 age groups.

In the boys category, Zimbabwe will be represented by Tadiwa Chinamo and Julius Mutetwa (Under-16), Dennis Moses and Tanaka Chabata (Under-14) and Tatenda Mutetwa (Under-12).

Rufaro Chirewa and Karen Machisa will fight for honours in the girls’ Under-16 category, while Kimberly Bhunu and Beverly Matsiwe will compete in the Under-14 age group.

The pair of Vimbai Moyo and Charlotte Zhuwakini will compete in the Under-12.
The tournament is a qualifier for the Under-14 and Under-16 junior championships to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, between March and April.
Matanga said preparations have been going on well with some of the players participating in pre-tournaments.

“I have mainly worked with the Under-14 and Under-16s, most of them were there last year, so with the experience we can actually see a change.

“The players have been working with their coaches at their clubs, so we have been working on the tactical side.
“We have got the Under-12s, probably it’s their first time and we will just give them a chance and see what they can do.

“I can say most of them have been playing pre-tournaments. The idea is exposing them to the firm level of tennis, that’s in preparation for next year because they will be Under-14.

“We are leaving tomorrow (today) and some will be leaving on Saturday,” said Matanga.
Matanga said they are hopeful the Under-14s and Under-16s will qualify for the finals scheduled for Nairobi since most of them have competed in the same event before.

The top seven in each age group qualify for the finals.
“In the round-robin I think we have a good chance of making it to the knockout stages.

“We have experienced players who have been there and looking at the tournaments they have been playing before this one, it’s quite promising.

“We will have a rest tomorrow and then a bit of warm-up when we get there. Basically, we just had a few days training because of the holidays,” said Matanga. Moses, who is based in South Africa, and the Mutetwa brothers — Julius and Tatenda — will join the other players in Botswana.