The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWE’S promising junior aces, Thabo Ncube and Ethan Sibanda made early exits at the ITF Juniors 18 and under Tourney in Botswana despite dominating a similar version of the tournament locally last month.
Ncube and Sibanda made it into the final of the ITF juniors event that was held in Bulawayo last month with the former going on to clinch the tourney and they had been expected to show their prowess at the Botswana event but they buddled out in the early stages.
Ncube beat Botswana’s Tsholofela Tsiang 6-4, 6-3 in the first round but went on to lose to South Africa’s Johann Coetzee 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, while Sibanda did not make it past the first round as he was knocked out by another South African, Dylan Salton, 7-5, 6-2.
United States-based Ncube had shown a lot of promise at the Bulawayo tournament and had been expected to do well in Botswana after being made part of the Davis Cup team.
Another Zimbabwean who made it to the event, Taona Mwahandagara lost in the second round to a South African, Nikolai Hensberg 6-1, 6-0.
Six Zimbabweans took part in the girls’ section of the tournament and it was only Takudzwa Mawisire and Charlotte Zhuwakini who made it past the first round with the rest being bundled out in the first round.
Tsitsi Mahere lost 6-3, 6-1 to South Africa’s Lara Van Der Merwe while Claire Machisa was beaten 6-0, 6-1 by American, Victoria Sasinka with Tadisa Chamisa losing 6-4, 6-1 to Austria’s Sophia Wurm and Tanyaradwa Kaome was knocked out by South African, Jessica Portwig, 6-0, 6-3.
Mawisire lost to South Africa’s Mieke Van Deventer 6-3, 6-2 in the second round while Zhuwakini was beaten by France’s Nina Radovanovic 6-1, 6-0. ITF tournaments present juniors with an opportunity to earn points while gauging their abilities against their peers from other countries.
