Lack Of Funds Hampers Davis Cup Preparations

By Mqondisi Dube
Staff Writer | Monday February 22, 2010 00:00

Briefing the media in Gaborone on Friday, BTA public relations officer, Oshinka Tsiang and Davis Cup team coach, Thato Kgosimore said preparations were hampered by the lack of funds. Tsiang said the team had to cut short their tour of Burundi due to unavailability of funds. The team managed to play one of the four-legged event. He said they wanted to give the team a lot of practice matches ahead of the Davis Cup but funds were insufficient.

'Funds permitting, we would like to send the team to Egypt (for training) but money is a problem. We have to fund-raise to augment the little that we have,' Tsiang said.

He said the six-man team spent nearly P100, 000 during its week's stay in Burundi and would have required an additional P100,000 if they had participated in the other three legs.

Kgosimore said despite the financial challenges, BTA is on an aggressive campaign to prepare teams to be competitive, not only in the Davis Cup but other international tournaments as well. 'We want to play at least six matches before the Davis Cup. We have to see how we raise funds. The players got valuable match practice in Burundi where they were playing on clay, which is foreign to them,' Kgosimore said.

The Davis Cup will be played on red clay surfaces in Morocco and Kgosimore emphasised the need to have players adapt to the surface before the tournament begins.

He said they need at least two weeks' practice on clay surfaces, which are uncommon in Southern Africa but used mostly in North Africa and Europe. Kgosimore would take four players to the global tennis event where Botswana will meet 16 other countries to fight for promotion to the Europe/Africa Zone Group Two.

The tournament will be played on a round robin basis with the 17 countries divided into four groups.

Winners of each pool play-off to decide which two nations are promoted to the Europe/Africa Zone Group Two.

Kgosimore said there are eight local players in camp while a couple others based outside the country, who play college tennis, will also be considered.

He said their target is to qualify for the Europe/Africa Zone Group Two.

'It is ambitious but achievable. We have an enthusiastic bunch of players whose excitement and high work rate is unbelievable,' Kgosimore said.

He said although all the players would not make the cut, it was imperative for BTA to develop a large and strong pool of players.