Ntungamili shines in France
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday January 20, 2023 13:58
According to the recent Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) rankings, Raguin is ranked position 17 in the Under-14 circuit. Tennis talent runs in the Raguin family as Ntungamili's sister, Naledi, is doing her own wonders.
She was part of the AUSC Region 5 team that competed in Malawi in December.
Last week, Raguin was in his element at the Tennis Europe Under 14 tournament, as he recorded five victories in a row, including against a top 100 ranked player in Europe, only to be beaten by Russian number one seeded player,.Artem Semenov, with a score of 6-0, 7-6 (13-11 in the tie break). Raguin (13) started playing tennis at the age of four in Francistown.
He soon became the number one player in his age group in Botswana, winning gold in national championships on a yearly basis. Raguin told Mmegi Sport that when he was still Under-10, he regularly competed in South Africa and Zimbabwe, winning several tournaments in both countries. Amongst his achievements was winning a pre-qualifying tournament to Les Petits As, which allowed him to take part in the unofficial Under-14 Junior World Championship to be played this weekend.
In December, he reached the quarter final of a French junior tournament in Grenoble. “I won several series of high ranked tournaments both in singles and doubles.
As one of the top players of my generation in Southern Africa by the age of 10, I relocated to France where I am training with Jeremie Cayla at the AUC in Aux-en-Provence. Following a full time training programme with two hours tennis training and 1 hour 30 minutes physical training per day, my progression through the French ranking system resulted in me entering the French Tennis Federation list of the best boys born in 2009,” he said. Raguin represented Botswana in CAT competitions and last year, he travelled with the national team to Egypt and Togo to face the best young African players in the Under-14 age group.
“My long term goal is to take Botswana to the French Open (Roland –Garros), one of the top four tournaments in the world,” he said. Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Oaitse Thipe said the path that Ntungamili is walking on is an indication of the importance of player development. “As BTA, we believe strongly in development hence you can see that majority of our youngsters are excelling.
Tennis is lucky because the parents are supporting their children’s talent,” Thipe said. Meanwhile, he said they are sending a team to the Africa Junior Championships in Egypt. The team comprises Denzel Seetso, Ekua Refilwe Youri, Mark Nawa, Naledi Raguin and Chelsea Chakanyuka.
Fact File Full names: Ntungamili Raguin Date of birth: January 26, 2009 Place of birth: Francistown Profession: Tennis player Universal tennis ranking: 8.44 Club: Country Club Tennis Academy, Aix-en-Province