The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
BUDDING tennis star, Ethan Sibanda’s star is set to shine bright after he was selected to take part in an International Tennis Federation tour of Europe that will see him play in five tournaments between July and August.
Sibanda (14) is part of a team of eight African players, aged 14 and under, who were selected to take part in the trip that will take them to France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
The series of tournaments will culminate in the world’s best players in that age category squaring off in the World Junior Tennis finals in the Czech Republic.
Sibanda was selected for inclusion in the African team after coming third at the Africa Junior Championships that were held in March this year at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, South Africa.
He expressed excitement at the prospect of playing against the best in the world adding it would be an eye-opening experience for him.
Sibanda will kick off his European excursion with a two-day training camp in Paris, France from 6 to 8 July followed by the BNP Paribas at Stade Francois in the same city from 9 to 15 July after that they head to the Windmill Cup that is scheduled for Osterbeek, Netherlands from 16 to 21 July with Balle Mimosa Loire-Atlantique (Nantes, France) set to follow from 23 to 28 August.
On 30 July to 5 August he will take part at the 41stt 39 Int Deutsche Tennismeisterschaft in Duren, Germany and depending on his performance in the tournaments, Sibanda will either head to the Young Champions Cup in Hasselt, Belgium or World Junior Tennis finals scheduled for Prostejov in the Czech.
Sibanda’s tour however, begins this week as he is part of a Zimbabwean team that is heading to Tunisia for the African Junior Team Championships from 21 to 30 July. Other players who make up the team are Michael Happy and Benedict Badza.
The Ihlathi High School pupil’s father and coach, Tendai Sibanda said they are excited by the opportunity of Ethan competing against the best in the world.
He said it would be a chance to measure himself against his peers from all over the world while at the same time seeking to learn and improve his game.
“We did not see him taking to Europe at this stage of his career but we are grateful he has been offered the chance. I think he is one of the few if not the first Zim player of his age to be part of such a tour, which will introduce Ethan to hectic professional touring world that will see him hop from one tournament to the next.
“He was only used to playing in a single tournament during school holidays but this will certainly change the way he sees the game,” said Tendai.
