Zimbabwe to send nine for African junior tennis champs

Tendai Tapfuma, Ronzai Saurombe, Takudzwa Muswere, Taremeredzwa Mariga and Courtney Lock.
In the girls’ section Pauline Chawafambira, Valeria Bhunu, Vimbai Ugaro and Thabile Tshatedi will represent the country.
The championships will run from March 19 to 24 with participants from across the continent set to fight for honours. The team is set to compete in two warm-up tournaments before the championships.
The championships in South Africa will be for the 18 and under age-group players while the Under-14 and Under-16 will battle it out in Cairo, Egypt, in April. Tennis Zimbabwe administrator, Cliff Nhokwara, said the warm-up tournaments are part of their preparations for the championships.
“The players have just come back from some tournaments in East Africa and there will be two warm-up tournaments before the AJC which they have all entered. There will be two weeks of competition and they will be leaving next week on Tuesday.
“However, for the warm-up tournaments some of our players have to go through the qualifiers before the main draw because these are open tournaments with no restrictions and there are many players. But, for the AJC, they are all in the main draw,” said Nhokwara.
Nhokwara said the players should expect tough competition.
“The competition is going to be tight. There are countries like Egypt and Morocco and we have a slight advantage over them but South Africa, being at home, will be tough to beat.
“But we expect the likes of Pauline, Tendai, Ronzai and Courtney to, at least, reach the quarter-finals,” said Nhokwara.
The TZ administrator said for the Under-14 and Under-16s who are going to take part in championships scheduled for Cairo, there will be a Super Eight tournament to be hosted by Harare province to prepare for the continental competition.
“We have the Super Eight before AJC in Egypt. The tournament will be held at Harare Sports Club and will be run by the province.”