adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
FOLLOWING a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Finland in the Davis Cup Europe/Africa Group II first round tie, Tennis Zimbabwe president Regis Bhunu expects a tough task in the relegation play-offs as they battle to remain in the Group.
Zimbabwe went into the tie as the underdogs, ranked 65 while their opponents were the favourites as they were 10 slots better, and Finland proved rankings don’t usually lie.
The Zimbabwe team consisted of playing captain Martin Dzuwa, Takanyi Garanganga, Mark Fynn and Courtney Lock. A win on Saturday would have kept Zimbabwe’s hopes alive for promotion but the country will have to battle Georgia in the relegation play-offs in July.
“We have been doing all we can but sponsorship is a concern. We cannot build a team in one year, it’s a process,” said Bhunu.
“All we are doing is to call them (players) for Davis Cup but we are not giving them an opportunity to play in other tournaments.
“Other countries’ players play in many tournaments and this gives the players exposure and they get to play together and bond well as a team.
“So there is a lot that needs to be done. We have a couple of youngsters playing well so we have got a bright future.
“When we had our home tie we had one youngster (Tadiwa Chinamo) as part of the Davis Cup team. We also want to do that even when we are playing away.”
The TZ president said they want to have the team together in camp for, at least, a week before the tie against Georgia.
“It will be in our interest to have the team in camp for a long period. We will try to do that but it depends on us being able to secure funding on time,” said Bhunu.
“If we secure funding in good time we will do that but if we don’t it will be a big problem.” Bhunu indicated before the Finland tie that the absence of Zimbabwe’s number two player Benjamin would haunt the team.
“We lost over the weekend and definitely we have to go for the relegation play-offs. It will be a tough match.
Online Reporter