By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
Masvingo – Masvingo tennis players represented the province well at the Zimbabwe Swiss (Zwiss) Open Diplomatic Tennis Tournament and TGI Launch in Harare over the weekend with three playing making it to the finals.
The tournament was held at the Old Hararians Sports Club in Milton Park in a bid to strengthen the friendship between the two countries as well as supporting Zimbabwe’s young talents through TGI.
The event was graced by the Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry.
The U18 boys were represented by James Makaranga and Tapiwa Mutiwanyuka, U14 girls by Tinotenda Chipfakacha and the U14 boys by Morgan Mkwanila. For the U10 Girls, Shalom Mhaka and Tabeth Nkala represented and for the U10 boys was by Munyaradzi Thomu, Mason Mdzingwa and Andile Nkala.
James Makaranga, Tinotenda Chipfakacha and Mason Mdzingwa made it to the finals, scooping trophies. James lost to Harare’s Raja Mikhil in a closely contested final 7-6 (5) 3-6 8-10.
Tinotenda overcame Natalia Bonis who’s based in Harare 6-3 6-4.
The Masvingo Tennis Team Coach, Mark Chinyenyani said he is pleased with the results.
“The results are a great reflection of the efforts of the players hard work prior to attending the tournament. The more senior players James and Tinotenda have been working very hard since January and their performance and results are reflection of the efforts they have been putting at practice.
“James will be taking part at a bigger tournament at Bulawayo J5 International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour that will be running from the 29th of May to the 12th of May alongside 4 other under 18 girls who did not attend the TGI launch because of school commitments,” he said.
The TGI is the first Universal Tennis Rating tournaments in Zimbabwe. Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) is a global tennis player rating system intended to produce an objective, consistent, and accurate index of players’ skill in the game of tennis. UTR rates all players on a single 16-point scale, without regard to age, gender, nationality, or locale of a given match.
Chinyenyani is a tennis coach who can be reached on 0782 221 120.
