Why Botswana missed top tennis competitions

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Friday January 30, 2009 00:00

Botswana last took part in the Davis Cup in 2007 and the Fed Cup in 2006. Sibanda said besides financial reasons, they have struggled to assemble a team that can represent the country. He said most of the high quality players study overseas and it is not always easy to get them to prepare for competitions. He explained that the situation is compounded by the fact that the players are sponsored by the universities they go to.

Hence it becomes difficult when Davis and Fed Cup dates clash with those university competitions.

It is not easy to control them because we are not sponsoring them, he explained. He added that last year, they were ready to send a team to the Davis Cup but failed to obtain visas for the players because they did not satisfy the requirements. Botswana was demoted from Davis Cup Euro-Africa Zone Group Three to Group Four in 2007. This years Davis Cup will be held in Turkey in April.

Sibanda would not say whether they will send a team or not because this will be determined by circumstances.

He said if they fail to get overseas-based stars, they will use the local ones. He said that they have promising players that they have groomed in the past few years. He said failing to take part in the two Davis Cup and Fed Cup competitions has affected the players. He added that they have lost potential stars because of lack of motivation. He said it is easy to lose players in an individual sport like tennis than in team sports.