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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe women’s tennis team concluded their participation in the Billie Jean King Cup Europe/Africa Group III on a losing note when they went down to Kosovo 2-1 over the weekend to finish on position 15.
The competition held at the SEB Arena in Vilnius, Lithuania attracted 21 countries.
Zimbabwe were returning to the competition, formerly Fed Cup, for the first time since 2008 and were represented by Valeria Bhunu, Tadiwanashe Mauchi, Tanyaradzwa Midzi and captain Fadzai Mawisire.
They were defeated 2-1 by Kosovo in their last tie on Saturday in the play-offs for positioning having missed out on the promotional play-offs after losing two out of the three Pool E ties to Algeria and Malta.
They lost 2-1 in both ties before beating Kenya 3-0. But with the group winners only advancing to the promotional play-offs, Zimbabwe were out of contention for promotion to Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 2022.
Prior to Saturday’s defeat, Zimbabwe had dismissed Rwanda 3-0 in the other play-off on Friday.
Norway and hosts Lithuania got the promotion to Europe/Africa Group II after emerging winners in the promotional play-offs that also took place on Saturday.
Zimbabwe will take comfort in that they had a young team taking part and these were the first steps towards ensuring they feature at the event regularly.
The country’ participation is expected to boost the game for female tennis players in the country.
Online Reporter