Africa-Press – Botswana. The Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) is confident that players who will be competing at the International Tennis Federation of African Tennis (ITF/CAT) 14 and Under Circuit, which starts in Gaborone on June14 are poised for success.
Confident in their preparations, the BTA vice president Nonofo Othusitse said in an interview that players were ready for the tournament. The players, he said, have extensive and consistent competition exposure throughout the year, adding that from January they participated in the ITF/CAT Southern African Junior Individual and Teams Championships, held in Namibia.
In February, some of the players also competed at the 14 and Under ITF/CAT African Junior Championship on Clay Court, further strengthening their international experience. Othusitse said in addition to these key events, the young athletes had been actively participating in numerous tournaments within and outside the country.
“Notably, players have competed in local events such as the Re Ba Bona Ha Championships, Maun Junior Tennis, and the Francistown Junior Open. You will have noted that in the past few months we have had a number of our players performing exceptionally well in a number of South Africa tennis tournaments at Under 12 and Under 14,” he said.
Othusitse said they were therefore entering this year’s circuit with high expectations and strong confidence. He said they were also optimistic about achieving exceptional results based on the momentum and performances they had witnessed over the past few months.
“You will also recall that when we hosted the same event last year, our players delivered outstanding performances with Malak Macheng winning the girls’ singles as well as doubles titles with Angel Chakanyuka across both tournament legs. We also had Tinashe Phatshwane winning the boys’ doubles title,” he said.
Othusitse said the players had gained the necessary experience and the coaches had laid solid groundwork, which gave them confidence that this year would bring even more success for their young athletes. He said Botswana would be represented by over 12 boys and 10 girls, who would face their peers from countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, over the weekend the country’s promising tennis players, Rerotlhe Kgannyeng and Camilla Seetso won a gold medal in the girls doubles at the at the NW Golden1Sports Mmabatho Mini 2, held in Mmabatho, South Africa. The duo beat Reene Sebego and South African Isabella Purdon 6-4, 1-6, 10-2, to proceed to the finals, where they won a gold against South Africans Gofaone Mogorosi, and Lethabo Mokgoro by 6-2, 6-0.
In the singles, rising tennis player, Sebego raised Botswana flag as she won a silver medal. She did not give her opponent Isabella Purdon, the championship on a silver platter as she forced for a tie-breaker, at the end losing 4-6, 6-4, and 10-4. Before proceeding to the finals, Sebego edged out her compatriot, Seetso 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 in the semifinals. However Seetso won a bronze medal after winning 6-1, 6-4 against Rerotlhe Kgannyeng.
In the boys under 12 category, two Batswana players met in the finals with Motheo Kgosimore beating Loeto Matong 6-3, 6-1 to win a gold medal and silver respectively. In the under 12 girls category, Aone Mokgosana won a silver medal after losing 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 against South Africa’s Hans Haniela de Andrade.
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