The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
THE country’s up-and-coming tennis stars have converged on Bulawayo to compete in the Bulawayo Open that kicked off yesterday and the Tarryn-Leigh De Souza Memorial scheduled to start on Tuesday.
Over 180 players are taking part in the Bulawayo Open which ends tomorrow and the same number are set to fight it out in the annual De Souza Memorial which ends on Thursday.
The two tournaments take place at Bulawayo Athletic Club, Girls College and Bulawayo Country Club.
Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Tennis Board Raggs Chikunichawa said they are expecting a week of exciting tennis and up-and-coming stars showcase their skills.
He said the tournaments have attracted interest from all over the country with players from as far as Mutare and Harare registering.
BAC is the main venue for the two competitions hosting the Under-10 and Under-18 contests while the Under-12s will slug it out at Girls College with the Under-14s playing at Country Club.
Some of the players taking part in the tournament include Tanaka Chabata, Takudzwa Mawisire, Nicole Chigwada, Lorraine Ndiweni and Rutendo Makoni.
The tournament is meant to celebrate the life of De Souza, one of the best players to come out of Bulawayo who died in 2009 due to heart failure.
Tarryn-Leigh represented Matabeleland and Zimbabwe in a number of tournaments at the age of 18 when she was ranked third in the country.
Tarry-Leigh, who was also a hockey player, started her tennis at Whitestone Primary School before continuing with her exploits at Girls College where she honed her talent and went on to represent the country in South Africa and also participated in tournaments in Botswana and Mozambique.
She won a scholarship to play and study at Oklahoma Christian University in the United States in 2003 where she attained a BA in sports administration and coaching.
Tarryn-Leigh’s mother, Beverly said they will continue to support the tourney adding they were driven by her daughter’s vision of developing upcoming players.
