The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
THE Chapepa siblings, Kuzivaishe and Kudzai gave exceptional performances during the first competitive tournaments since tennis was allowed to resume.
The two girls last week took part in two Growthpoint Super 8 tournaments in South Africa along with Emily George and Tanaka Mhlanga.
Nine-year-old Kuzivaishe who competed in the Under-12 category, clinched the doubles medal in the second leg of the tourney while in the first leg she was the runners-up after partnering Mhlanga (10).
In the singles, Kuziva finished third and second in the first and second legs respectively while Mhlanga came in position 15 and nine.
Kudzai (12), who played in the Under-14 section, was fifth and third in the first and second leg singles event while in the doubles she reached the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.
George (9), who was also competing in 12-year-old section, came in at position 21 and five in the singles while in the doubles she reached the semifinals in the first leg and was the runner up in the second leg.
The girls’ coach, Thesly Mufunda said he was impressed with the players performance adding they did well, considering they were coming from lockdown.
He said ahead of the tournaments they had played league and challenge matches beginning September although they did not take part in any competitive games.
“We only played in league and challenge matches because we felt it was critical that we have that match experience before any tournaments and that paid off. The girls were facing players who had played in 35 competitive matches this year while they had only played in 11 but they managed to pull it off well,” said Mufunda.
He said it was unfortunate there were few tournaments locally adding for players to be competitive they need to take part in more international games.
“I’m delighted by the fact they performed well in my absence as I failed to travel due to financial challenges and we had to chat before matches through WhatsApp,” said Mufunda.
“They are showing a lot of potential and early next month they will be taking part in another tournament in South Africa.”
