Zimbabwean youngsters head for Africa Junior Championships in SA

Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent

RISING tennis ace, Ethan Sibanda leads a five-member team that is set to play at the ITF/CAT African Closed Junior 18 and under Championships scheduled for Benoni, South Africa on Monday.

Sibanda (15) is already in South Africa taking part in an ITF Juniors Grade 3 tournament in Pretoria and will be joined by his compatriots on Sunday as they head to Benoni.

Other members of Team Zimbabwe that will play in the tournament include Tinashe Taruberekerwa, Tadiwa Mauchi, Gaborone-based Chelsea Chakanuyka and Rufaro Magarira.

Tennis Zimbabwe administrator, Cliff Nhokwara said the team will be leaving on Saturday and are set to play in individual as well as team tournament.

The tourney, featuring African players only, will run from 10 to 16 February.

“The tournament provides an opportunity for the players to rack up points while also rating themselves against their African peers, as this is exclusively for players from the continent.

“We are confident they would be able to match the competition at that level and it provides good ground to assess the level of skills,” said Nhokwara.

The winner will walk away with 160 points, a big boost for a rise in the rankings while the runner up will get 95 points with the semifinalists getting 60 points and the quarterfinalists 30.

South Africa will host an ITF Junior tournament of Grade 5 during the week following the championships with players available being offered the opportunity to take part in the event without having to travel to another country.

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