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Descent Dube, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’s Thabo Ncube won the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament held at Bulawayo Country Club after beating compatriot Ethen Sibanda 6-4, 7-5 in the final on Sunday.
The United States of America-based Ncube made the final after beating South African Tatenda Mutetwa in the semi-final, while Sibanda overcame Muntingh Hamman in the other semi-final tie.
Ncube (17), who trains at the Pro World Tennis Academy in the USA, is expected to participate in another ITF competition to be held in Botswana in May.
Zimbabwe Tennis president Biggie Magarira said they were pleased with the local players’ performances in the tournament.
“We’re happy to have hosted a successful ITF Under-18 tournament in which we had an all-Zimbabwe final (in the boys’ category).
“We now aim to maintain the momentum by having proper provincial structures that will help us advance our quest to promote tennis from the grassroots level,” said Magarira.
“The boys did well and some of our girls reached the quarter-finals and gained points which will help them in future competitions as they automatically qualify for international tournaments without going through preliminary games.”
In the girls’ category, Lauren Cooper from the USA claimed top prize after beating Tshegofatso Tsiang of Botswana 6-1, 6-0.
A regional junior Under-12 tournament kicked off at the same venue yesterday, with South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Madagascar, Lesotho, Angola, Malawi and Zimbabwe taking part.
“Junior tennis is the backbone of senior tennis and now Zimbabwe is going to send players to Romania for the Davis Cup, and these are the fruits of junior development.
“We really need to strengthen our development to be able to play at a higher level. We’re implementing a drive that will see us having solid structures that will help us have a formidable foundation. For that we’re looking to the corporate world to sponsor tennis from junior level,” Magarira said.
– @DecoDecent2
Online Reporter