The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
INTERNATIONAL tennis activity is set to resume in the country with Bulawayo set to host an International Tennis Federation (ITF) event on 30 November followed by two other competitions in Harare.
Entries for the scheduled J5 tournament closed on Tuesday. Tennis Zimbabwe (TZ) administrator, Cliff Nhokwara, said it is most likely to be a full house due to the fact it will be the first tournament being held in the region since the ITF put a hold on tennis activities in March as the world went into battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the ITF website, 48 players are set to take part in the tournament with 24 registered as alternates. Players are coming from all over the world, with Zimbabwe’s entourage being led by Ethan Sibanda who is seeded third for the tournament while Taona Mhwandagara and Tinashe Taruberekera are ninth and tenth respectively.
Benedict Badza (14) and Thompson Thomu (18) complete the list of Zimbabweans in the main draw in the boys’ section.
In the girls’ draw, there are seven female players led by Rufaro Magarira, who is the top seed, Chelsea Chakanyuka is eighth while Tadiwanashe Mauchi and Tanatswa Musabaeka are 10th and 11th respectively.
Charlotte Zhuwakini (16), Tanyaradzwa Midzi (18) and Tadisa Chamisa (22) are the other players in the girls’ main draw.
Nhokwara said they are hopeful the Sports and Recreation Commission will give thumbs up for the tournament to go ahead.
He said while they applied last month, they are yet to get official permission.
“We were asked to go ahead with the preparations as the sport has been given approval to resume but we are yet to get specific approval for these three tournaments. Sport and Recreation Commission told us to prepare for the events while they make their own assessments and I believe they will go ahead. We are excited about the resumption of the games and we are confident we are going to see a huge number of players from all over the world,” he said.
ITF cancelled all tennis activity as Bulawayo was about to host a juniors’ tourney in March, which TZ had to cancel. The second J5 tourney is scheduled for 7 to 12 December while the third tourney will be held from 14 to 19 December.
