ITF World Tennis Tour J30 kicks off
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday August 13, 2024 10:14
The Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) is also scheduled to host J60 from October 21-27 followed by J100 from October 28 to November 2. The BTA director of public relations and marketing, Tshepang Tlhankane, told SportMonitor that the J30 tournament has attracted players from different countries such as Japan, Australia, India, Great Britain and Czech Republic. He said Botswana has 12 players in the main draw and they are looking forward to a week of great tennis. “Preparations have been going well. We hit the ground running as soon as the Davis Cup fever died down.
Over the weekend, it was clear that the players were ready and they had something they were looking forward to. Our France-based player, Naledi Ragiun is here and she is seeded number two in the girls draw,” he said. Tlhankane said one of the players to watch out for is Esi Molefe who was also a member of the Davis Cup team. Tlhankane also explained that players are eligible to compete on the tour in the year they turn 13 years, if they have reached their 13th birthday on or before the start of the Singles main draw of the tournament they are competing in, until the end of the year in which the player turns 18 years. Meanwhile, the BTA president, Oatsi Thipe, said the hosting back to back tournaments has showed that they have strong administrative capacity.
“Our international umpire, Gaone Poane, was officiating in the gold medal match at the just ended Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She had to run here and officiate at this two tournaments,” he said. Ntungamili Raguin seeded number two and Mark Nawa seeded number one in the country will get in action next week. Raguin is currently still playing in the French National Tennis Open and he is expected to arrive in Gaborone later this week while Nawa has been in Zimbabwe playing the World ITF J100. Furthermore, the Under-12 national girls team finished in position three during an ITF World Tour in Mozambique. Thipe said they are waiting to see if the team has qualified for continental championships.