Africa-Press – Angola. The National Under-14 and Under-16 Tennis Teams enter today for the third-to-last day of preparation with a view to the Zonal dispute for qualifying for the African Championship, taking place from 3 to 7 May, in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe. .
Under the guidance of coach João Almeida, those chosen for the international commitment return to the Coqueiros Tennis Court, in downtown Luanda, to improve the aspects of singles and pairs games, in order to improve their technique.
The group has been training in fractions, in different periods in relation to the athletes’ school schedules. This situation has conditioned, in some way, the technician’s work. For this reason, the direction of the Angolan Federation of the sport will contact the respective schools so that they can be released for collective training, starting tomorrow.
Mariana Costa, an Under-14 athlete, told that she has been doing her best because she believes that Angola will not have an easy opponent and that all the other teams are also preparing to compete for the top places in the classification.
In addition to the technical component, Mariana highlighted the work focused on the physical component and believes that she will be at the best level and make a contribution in Harare. From outside the court, the father, João Costa, carefully followed the evolution of his daughter.
The healthy atmosphere within the group is, in Mariana’s opinion, another key factor in achieving the objectives. Players have been exchanging impressions about what could be the degree of difficulty that a competition of this magnitude imposes, according to revelations by the tennis player.
“It’s my first time, I prefer not to set high goals, but I also don’t intend to have a performance that is far below average. My mother is a person who supports me a lot, as is my father, always attentive and gives me tips for improve my technique”, revealed Mariana Costa, who did not hide her satisfaction at being part of the national team for the first time.
Another athlete who also spoke to JA was Emerson Pedro, who is already on his fourth cap. Like his teammate, he hopes to give his best in search of the ideal performance so as not to disappoint the trust placed by coach João Almeida.
South Africa and Zimbabwe are the selections pointed out by Emerson as the main favorites: “they are made up of athletes with a good technical level, as a result of participating in international competitions with some regularity, which is why they have increased responsibilities in relation to us”, he argued.
But regardless of the favorable indicators for Angola’s opponents, Emerson believes in a good performance. Surpassing the sixth place he obtained in African Namibia, in 2020, is the goal of the promising tennis player.
Picker Highlights Determination
The coach of the National Teams from Under-14 to Under-16, João Almeida revealed that there is a desire among the players to obtain a good result, in Harere, stage of the Qualifying Zone for the African Championship.
This motivation, according to the coach, is the result of the two years that the different teams were unable to compete, as a result of the situation imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, since the beginning of 2020.
“There has been a great progression, I notice a considerable commitment, but we will have to work on the psychological part of them in order to better manage their emotions and contain this anxiety after the long period without competing internationally”, he analyzed.
Despite the delivery, Almeida is concerned about the fact that there are no official pairs competitions at these levels, a situation that has already been presented by both the Angolan Tennis Federation and the Provincial Association of the sport in the capital (APTL).
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