Wheel chair tennis tourney on cards

Open wheelchair tennis tournament scheduled for next week.
The competition will run from August 15 to 19 and will be recognised as part of this year’s NEC Tour.
However, the classification is for one year and the event will be re-evaluated next year.

The development comes after the Wheelchair Tennis Association of Zimbabwe were given the greenlight to host the event by the International Tennis Federation after successfully hosting two editions of the Harare Open last year in April and this year in May.
The national association have been commended by ITF for their developmental programmes that saw the body introducing the sport to Manicaland and Masvingo, beyond Harare and Bulawayo, who have been dominating the sport.

The tournament is expected to feature players from South Africa.
WTAZ vice president, Alexander Mkandla, said the event provided an opportunity for local players, who are not able to go for international competitions in other countries due to financial constraints, to showcase their talent.

“We have been preparing for the event and we are ready to go. The tournament will feature mainly local players and South Africans.
“So far we have 33 players who have confirmed their participation.

“We had closed the entries a week ago but we have players from Masvingo who have shown interest and I think we going to accommodate them.
“Most of the players are coming from Harare and this is an advantage for those who cannot afford to go outside the country because they can now get international exposure and experience when they take part in the competition.

“It is an opportunity for them to earn points for international rankings.
“It is also good for the development of the sport locally,” said Mkandla.

The WTAZ vice president said they were hoping to spread the competition to other provinces.
“We now have four active provinces that are registered, that is Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo and Manicaland while in Gweru we have some players but they are yet to be registered.
“We are looking at spreading the competitions to other provinces.

“Our players are excited, we have good players practising and preparing for the game and we are expecting a competitive event,” said Mkandla.
Some of the players expected to compete include Zimbabwe’s top player, Nyasha Mharakurwa, Samson Muroyiwa, Brian Mafuvise and Daniel Buleya.
Mharakurwa will be hoping to redeem his pride after losing the Harare Open to Robinson Mandez of Chile in May.