Africa Cup glory beckons for tennis team
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday November 9, 2018 11:55
The competition has attracted players from Angola, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Swaziland, Mauritius, Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
One of the coaches, Tshegofatso Wincey Sekgopi said reaching the final is a big achievement for the boys. She said it is going to be an uphill task to emerge victorious.
“Some countries such as Tunisia and Morocco have strong players. Kenya cannot be counted out. We expected either of them to walk away with the title. But anything can happen tomorrow. We just have to wait. The boys are ready and they know what to expect,” she said. Sekgopi said the girls’ team did well despite failing to reach the finals. She said individual players showed maturity during the tournament.
Lefa Sibanda became the only local player to reach the quarterfinal. In the individual contest, the boys lost in the semi-final on Wednesday. Sekgopi said they had prepared well for the tournament, with two months of training and they had a programme that they were following. She said Botswana was given an opportunity to add two more players, Bonolo Molefe and Bayani Moilwa to the team, as the hosts.
Meanwhile, Botswana Tennis Association this week hosted the administrators’ workshop for the Southern African National Associations. The workshop started on Wednesday and ended yesterday.