Junior tennis finally resumes

Junior tennis resumed with a successful post-lockdown tournament, with 83 players aged under 10 to U25 competed in Windhoek in both singles and double matches. Matches took place over three days across the four venues in Olympia: Central Tennis Club, Namibian Police courts, SKW and DTS. Due to its status as a national tournament, players came from all over the country, including Swakopmund and Grootfontein, to get the racquets swinging again.In the boys' under-10 division, De Witt Bergh came first with Tadiwa Mombeyarara in second place. Linda Alemu was the overall winner for girls under 10 as she first beat three opponents in her round robin group and then went on to win 8-0 against runner-up, Elrica Nakusera, in the finals. Liha Tromp came in third by beating Janah King 8-3. In the under-12 boys division, 20 singles matches were played in the round-robin group stage with four players promoted to the next round. In the semi-finals, Samuel Nel won against Brian Edwards 7-5, 6-4 while Johan Theron got the better of Luan Brand with a score of 6-2, 6-2. The finals match were a battle to the end with nine-year-old Theron starting off leading each set, but giving his lead up to the 11-year-old Nel. In the end, only a few points made the difference, with the first-seeded Samuel Nel taking gold with a score of 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6). The girls under-14 had the biggest turn-out with 16 players participating in a knock-out format draw. The two-month absence from competitions was evident as quite a few seeded players lost in the early rounds. In the first semi-final, fourth-seeded Mari van Schalkwyk surprised all by beating first-seeded Joanivia Bezuidenhout in a nail-biting match which was decided by a super tiebreak third set with a score of 5-7, 6-3, 10-5. In the other semi-final, Santie van der Walt comprehensively got the better of Zoe Bronkhorst (6-2, 6-1). In the final, there was no stopping Van Schalkwyk as she beat Van der Walt 6-0, 6-2.In the popular boys' under-14 division, all went according to seedings with first-seeded Lian Kuhn beating third-seeded Abraham Alemu 6-4 and 6-4 in the first semi-final and second-seeded Eduan Schollij beating fourth-seeded Corne Koen 6-1, 6-4. The final was once again a tough match with both Schollij and Kuhn staying strong. In the end, it was Schollij who took gold with a score of 7-6(7), 6-7(7) and 10-4. The boys under-16 competition saw fourth-seeded Stephan Koen surprising top seed Oliver Leicher in the semi-final 3-6, 6-2, 11-9. In the finals, 12-year-old Ruben Yssel showed his mettle by beating Koen 7-6, 6-2. Dominique Theron dominated the girls under-16 division by beating Kyla Gille 6-3, 6-4.In line with tennis tournaments in neighbouring countries, junior tennis has introduced an under-25 division instead of the traditional under-18 section. This was done to give stronger and more varied competition to under-18 players. It also expands the number of tournaments available for young adult players who aspire to be competitive. The women under 25 had only two entries. Elze Stears got the better of Larushka Kruger with a score of 6-0, 6-0.The under-25 men's division saw ten very competitive entries. In group one, Daniel Jauss came out top after close calls against Nguvi Hinda (7-6, 3-6 and 10-5) and Dian Calitz (6-7, 6-3, 10-7). In the other group, George Louw's toughest competition was Datago Gawanab, whom he beat 6-3, 7-5. Jauss went on to beat Gawanab in a very tough semi-final 3-6, 6-1, 13-1 while Louw also had to fight until the end to beat Hinda 6-2, 2-6, 10-8. The final was played on the Sunday morning with Jauss taking gold against Louw with a score of 6-3, 6-4. The Namibia Tennis Association extended its gratitude towards Sanlam for the gracious sponsorship.“It is sponsorships like these that ensure the continuity of junior tournaments in Namibia. “Without regular tournaments, we are not able to develop the local tennis talent to become more competitive and we are truly thankful to Sanlam for their continued support over the years.” The next junior tournament will take place in Swakopmund from 10 to 12 September.

Junior tennis finally resumes

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Junior ­tennis ­finally resumes

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Junior tennis finally resumes

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