Tennis team in Davis Cup mission
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday June 25, 2021 14:48
The team in Brazzaville comprises Thato Holmes, Tshepo Mosarwa, Denzel Seetso and Tsholofelo Tsiang. Petrus Molefhe is the team captain. Botswana is in the same group as Namibia, Uganda, Angola and Congo. The competition started on Monday and ends tomorrow with Botswana taking on the host, Congo.
The team has lost to 3-0 to Namibia, who was the toughest opponent in the group. Botswana beat Angola and Uganda 3-0 each. On Tuesday, in the singles, Seetso won 6-6, 3-1 against Nicolau Monteiro of Angola. In another match, Tsiang beat Fernando Andre of Angola 7-3-6, 5-6-3.
Holmes and Mosarwa beat Andre and Monteiro of Angola 6-6, 4-2. Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Oaitse Thipe said they have sent a young team to Congo.
“We were rebuilding the team for the next four years; so far they have impressed. They are all Under 20 years,” he said. Currently, the team is leading the group with two wins and one loss from three matches.
Namibia comes second with two wins from two games. Angola is third after three games; they have registered a single win picking two losses. During the 2019 tie, Botswana finished in sixth position at the Africa group IV event that was held at the same venue beating the Democratic Republic of Congo but lost to Uganda, Rwanda and Gabon.
“We have never reached group two before. But we were in group three in Malta when Molefhe was playing. We want to go further in the competition and that is why we brought a coach with experience of playing at a high level,” Thipe said.
Molefhe played the Davis Cup for Botswana from 1997 until 2003. Thipe said they have set a target for the team which is to reach group two and even the World Group. “But we need to support these players by hosting highly ranked tournaments. Seetso is one of the youngest players to debut in this competition. He will be playing Africa Junior Championships next month in Tunisia,” he said.