J30 tennis tourney comes to an end
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday April 17, 2023 16:00
Among others,the tournament was attended by players from Australia, Britain, France South Africa, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Burundi, Mozambique. The girls singles champion is Celina Joseph from South Africa while the runner up was Tadiwanashe Eunice Mauchi from Zimbabwe. Joseph won the match by beating Mauchi 2-6 6-2 6-2.
Allan Gatoto from Burundi is the boys singles champion after Benedict Badza of Zimbabwe could not proceed with the match due to an injury. When the injury occurred, Gatoto was leading 6-4 3-1 and he was declared the winner of the match. The girls doubles tennis titles was snatched by Chelsea Chakanyuka of Botswana and partner.
Tadiwanashe Mauchi (Zimbabwe) won the girls doubles final 6-4 6-7 10-6 against top seeds, Sophia Fuller and Celina Joseph from South Africa. The boys doubles title went to Mark Nawa (Botswana) and Takura Mhwandagara from Zimbabwe after team Badza and Thompson Thomu pulled out due to injury. Nawa and Mhwandagara qualified for the final after winning 3-6 6-2 10-7 against Mudiwa Munyimani and Maita Munyimani (Australia). The winners of the tournament accumulated 30 international tennis points.
Meanwhile, Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Oaitse Thipe told Sport Monitor that the local players did not get good results in the singles competition especially Nawa and Chakanyuka.
However, the two players emerged as champions in doubles. “We expected results from the two players while the rest of our 20 players were in the competition for exposure and get a feeling of playing in the big stage.
This was a World Junior Tennis tournament, so it was an international competition for our young talent who never get such opportunities of traveling outside the country for such competitions,” he said. Thipe also said the biggest challenge for hosting the tournament was lack of sponsorship. He said the tournament contributed to sport tourism, as players came from across the world, booked accommodation in different hotels and connected from Johannesburg to Gaborone through Air Botswana.