African tourney eludes Botswana junior players

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Tuesday January 19, 2010 00:00

 

Chantel Van vureen and Gorata Keabile lost to their Lesotho counterparts in the Under-14 girls' finals while the boys were knocked out in the first round of the competition. In the Under-16 girls category, Phatsimo Ruele lost to Ntswaki Mkhele of Lesotho while Lesego Mojadife fell to Zambia's Idah Longwe in the second round play-offs. Coach Wellington Sibanda said though they were ready for the competition, a number of factors contributed to their loss. He said the draw did not favour his team as they were drawn against top seeds in the first round. He said though some of the players managed to make it all the way to the finals, it was experience and fatigue, which was their downfall.  Sibanda said other countries had an advantage because they had played a number of international competitions while Batswana players only used local events to prepare.

He added that they need to play consistently rather than only when there are competitions. Sibanda said the players need to be mentally stronger in future to survive in such competitions. The coach said Keabile, a debutant at the tournament, showed much character as she qualified for the finals.

As a consolation, the trio of Lame Botshoma, Katlego Gouwe and Lefa Sibanda will represent Botswana in the Under-18 category. The trio qualified by virtue of having International Tennis Federation (ITF) points. The AJC competition will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, in March.