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Ellina Mhlanga, Harare Bureau
TENNIS Zimbabwe have a named a 12-member team that will represent the country at the ITF/CAT Southern Africa Junior Championships in Windhoek, Namibia, in January.
The young players will be aiming for qualification for the African Junior Championships and earn points for the Confederation of African Tennis rankings.
The championships will run from January 8 to 18. Previously the event included the Under-12s but the format has since changed with the targeted age-groups being the Under-14s and the Under-16s.
TZ administrator, Cliff Nhokwara, said the competition presents the youngsters with a learning opportunity and they would want to see them making it for the AJC.
“(For) most of them, it will be their first time competing in those age-groups and hopefully they will learn and then next time they can play to win. But ultimately we hope a lot of our players will be in the top eight so that they qualify for the Africa Junior Championships. Also for most of them it will be their first time to play at the zonals but not the first time to play at an international level. So they do have the experience from the different events they have represented Zimbabwe in. We expect them to showcase their talent just like the other kids there,” said Nhokwara.
Zimbabwe are going to field six players in each age-group — three boys and an equal number for the girls unlike in the past when they had two players as the tournament also involved the Under-12s.
“Now we no longer have the Under-12s but the Under-14s and Under-16s. So the numbers have increased (for the two age-groups), we used to send two players in each category but now we are sending three. So instead of four players we now have six in the Under-14s and Under-16s.
“This is all developmental but they will also get the Confederation of African Tennis rankings, so that beyond the ITF points we also rank our players in Africa, to say these are the top Under-14 and Under-16 (players) in Africa,” Nhokwara said.
Most of the team members are scheduled to step up their preparations at the New Winners tournament starting today at Harare Sports Club before they go for a week-long training camp ahead of their departure for Namibia early next month.
“We have the New Winners starting from tomorrow (today). But beyond that we have a week-long training camp for the players going for the zonals. Most of them are competing at the New Winners except for Tinashe Taruberekera who is based in South Africa,” added Nhokwara.
The New Winners tournament, which is featuring players from the 10-and-Under to 18-and-Under age-groups, will end on Saturday.
The 18-and-Under titles for both boys and girls are up for grabs as the winners from last year have since graduated from the juniors.
Team
Under-14 Boys: Tinashe Taruberekera, Thabo Ncube, Anesu Kwirirai. Under-14 Boys: Ethan Sibanda, Taona Muhwandagara, Lyle Zaloumis.
Under-14 Girls: Rufaro Magarira, Clare Machisa, Tsitsi Mahere. Under-16 Girls: Nandi Munyulwa, Vimbai Moyo, Takudzwa Mawisire.
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