Dunne, Kuhn win ITF junior circuit

| Monday December 13, 2010 00:00

In the boys' singles final, Kuhn beat James Junior Storme of Belgium 4-6, 7-6,6-1 in a mouth-watering game.

The left-handed Storme started very well with his powerful sidespin serves proving difficult for Kuhn. He won the first set but committed errors that cost him dearly killing his morale in the following sets and ultimately losing the game.

The stifling heat seemed to have a negative impact on the Belgian, as he looked fatigued towards the end of the game. Kuhn, who is ranked 185 in the world, hailed his opponent at the end of the game saying despite losing, he gave him a very tough match.

In the girls' singles final, number one seed Dunne beat Louise Boinay of Switzerland 6-2, 6-4 to emerge victorious. Boinay tried her best in the game played under blistering temperatures but could not match Dunne who seemed relaxed. The fourth seed had beaten number eight seed Madrie Le Roux of South Africa in the semi-finals while Dunne eliminated 14th seeded Janet Koch.

Meanwhile, local tennis players failed to shine at the tournament with only one going past the second round.

Lame Botshoma who carried the nation's medal hopes proceeded to round three after beating Julien Min Fa of Mauritius 6-1, 6-4. He was eliminated by Southa African Peter Bleach in the last 16. The five-day Grade Five event was organised under the auspices of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Juniors. It attracted some of the top-seeded international young players from countries such as Belgium, Italy and the Great Britain.

Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) technical manager, Boikobo Gaolebalwe who was tournament director, said the event served local players well as it gave them a rare opportunity to test their strength against some of the best international players.

Meanwhile, more international players continued arriving in the country over the weekend for the Grade Four ITF circuit that started yesterday. Most of the youngsters who competed in the Grade Five tournament are expected to play in the week-long tourney.