Six budding prodigies eye glory in Maputo

Six of the country’s budding tennis prodigies left on Saturday to represent Namibia at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) Southern African Junior Teams competition for under-12s, which began in Maputo, Mozambique, yesterday and runs until Friday.

They are set to face players from hosts Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Accompanied by coach Mickey Alemu, the boys’ team consists of Shafishuna Shimali, Breyton Bezuidenhout and Pameni Paulus, along with the girls’ team of Janice Bezuidenhout, Madison Hoff and Niamey Marcus.

As their send-off at Olympia’s Central Tennis Courts coincided with the hosting of the Billie Jean King Cup in Windhoek, the players were joined by the country’s top female players, who faced them in tie-break games to boost their morale.

Reflecting on the journey ahead, Alemu expressed his delight, noting that the boys have experience from last year.

“We hope the boys build on that experience and do better this time around. We have also practised a lot with the girls, and they are ready for their first appearance at this event,” he said.

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