The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWEAN rising ace, Ethan Sibanda (16) fell to top seed South African, Andreas Scott (17) in the final of the J5 Bulawayo Cranrid – ITF South Central Zim Leg 1 18 and under at Bulawayo Country Club on Saturday.
Sibanda, who struggled with his game, lost 6-4, 6-1.
Despite making a sluggish start in the first set, he rallied to come back and were tied 4-4 at one time but could not hold his game.
In the second set, Sibanda did not come to the party, allowing Scott asserting his dominance and wrapping up the game.
The Davies Cup team player, who was seeded second, admitted he was too relaxed and didn’t put more effort.
“I feel I didn’t put much effort into the game. I was too relaxed and I thought I will come back but it was too late.
“I will take the lessons into next week and hopefully put up an improved performance,” he said
Scott said despite being stressed early in the morning heading into the match, he feels he was mentally prepared for the game having played Sibanda on previous occasions.
Sibanda’s coach and father, Tendai said rust could have affected him after being on the sidelines for the past six months as he failed to travel to tournaments after his passport expired.
“Six months of non-competitive tennis affected him, can’t run away from that but it’s still disappointing to lose.
“He lacked mental strength needed to rise a little bit his strategy and tactics not working properly, his baseline approach wasn’t working so good he needed to change,” he said.
“Problem with these boys is that what they train is not what they bring into the match. At training they will be doing well. He never implemented the plan we had come up with.”
In the girls final, South African, top seed, Suzanie Pretorius (17) beat Malaysian Jo-Leen Saw (14) 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the gold medal at the Cranrid Petroleum sponsored tournament.
The second leg kicks off tomorrow with the qualifiers at the same venue.
Tennis Zimbabwe president, Biggie Magarira said he was pleased with the level of competition shown by the local players adding the fact Sibanda was able to make it to the final was a sign of the potential the sport has.
He said girls were making big strides singling out 13-year-old Kudzai Chapepa, who was handed a wild card, for showing lot of promise after putting in a gutsy performance in the first round to beat 15-year-old Egyptian, Joody Elkady.
“Hosting more ITF competitions in the country will give a bigger number of players an opportunity to gain points as most are unable to travel. The exposure to opponents from different countries also benefits them as they gauge their competitiveness,” he said.
