‘Tennis youngsters need international exposure’

LOCAL young tennis players need more time in the courts if they are to match their foreign counterparts.

Commenting on the recent failure by most local players to reach the quarterfinals of the recently held International Tennis Federation/Confederation of African Tennis African Junior Circuit Under14, tennis pundits said lack of game time and practice was negatively affecting the performances of upcoming stars.

Tennis Zimbabwe administrator, Cliff Nhokwara and Centre for Excellence coach, Tendai Sibanda feel more matches would assist locals improve their game. Both felt the youngsters did not do badly despite failing to make it past the second round.

Zimbabwe struggled against players from other countries with most locals falling out in the second round of the two legs of the tournament with only Ethan Sibanda managing to reach the finals of the first leg and quarterfinals of the second leg. Sibanda lost to South Africa’s Connor Kruger in both legs.

Nhokwara, who was the tournament director, said locals lacked maturity in their play and more international exposure would bring them at par with their counterparts. He said it was unfortunate that most players did not take part in the competition as it was a good opportunity to measure themselves against foreign players.

“It was one of those few international tournaments that we have held in Zimbabwe and particularly in Bulawayo so we were expecting more young players to take part. Attending similar tournaments in other countries is expensive for most local players hence taking part in this one would have been a great advantage,” he said. Sibanda, who is father to Ethan and is his coach, said local players only need to up their level of the game and also improve their tactics. He laid the blame on the lack of court time both for practice and competitive matches.

Sibanda said the school system was anti-sports as it dedicated more time to academic studies and left little room for emerging players to practice their craft.

“With the current curriculum children are required to be in class until 4:30pm meaning little time is left for the courts. No matter how much pleading we make to teachers it just falls on deaf ears. While a Zimbabwe player would get two hours or less of practice in a day; upcoming players in other countries would be getting between four and six. The difference in court time will obviously show when the two play against each other,” he said.

Sibanda said the emphasis on the academic aspect of education was hindering those more gifted in sport from attaining their full potential.

South Africans, Connor Kruger and Christine Kruger won the first leg of the boys and girls competition respectively while Egyptians, Mahomed Salah and Maria Charl won the second leg. The competition was held at Bulawayo Country Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club with over 70 players from eight African countries taking part.