Zimbabwe to field eight players at Africa Junior Champs

Elina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
TENNIS Zimbabwe is set to field eight players at the upcoming 18-and-Under Africa Junior Closed Championships to take place in Tunisia from July 18 to 24.

The tournament features some of the top junior players from the continent.

Zimbabwe will be represented by Ethan Sibanda, Benedict Badza, Lyle Zaloumis and Taona Mhwandagara in the boys section.

France-based Rufaro Magarira, Tanyaradzwa Midzi, Tadiwanashe Mauchi and Chelsea Chakanyuka will compete for honours in the girls category.

Most of them played at the 18-and-Under International Tennis Federation events that were held between May and June in Bulawayo.

For some of them it was their first international competition since last year due to the disruption caused by Covid-19 pandemic and gave them the platform to start building up for other upcoming competitions including the continental championships.

Mauchi and Midzi were also part of the team that represented the country at the Billie Jean King Cup almost two weeks ago.

While Zimbabwe could not make the promotional play offs, the two young players will be hoping to build on their experience from that competition.

They are all expected in Tunisia on July 17. The actual competition gets underway on July 19.

Some of the countries that have entered their players for the competition include Botswana, Madagascar, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Kenya and Nigeria.