Other Botswana players crashed out in the first and second round of the competition. The tournament had boys and girls Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 categories.
Despite the loss, Mabaka who was the country's only hope in the boys' Under-16 singles category posted a good performance as clearly evidenced by the praise he got from his opponent. In the first round, he outclassed Kevin Kisoso 62, 6-1 before dispatching fourth ranked Nigerian Vincent Itodo.
Mabaka admitted that the experience of the Egyptian counted against him. He revealed that he was meeting the Egyptian for the second time. "I did all my best but I think I played better in Mauritius against him two years ago than now because in Mauritius, we ended up going to the third set but here he defeated me in only two sets," he said. Aita praised the local player for the good performance. "His fitness is magnificent and he has a firing spirit. He gave me a good game. I think it was a good and challenging game that could have gone either way," he said. He added that he knew from the onset that he was going to meet a good player after their first duel two years ago. After eliminating Mabaka, Aita crashed out 6-0, 6-0 in the semi-finals. It is expected that the experience the Botswana players got at the ITF will give them a boost for the Africa Junior Championships, which started yesterday at Notwane Tennis Courts.
Indeed national team coach, Oaitse Thipe believes the local players will do well in the Africa junior event. He said that the performance of the Under-14 and Under-16 was quite impressive though he was disappointed by the Under-18 players. "We were playing against the players that have been playing tournaments. But I think the just ended tournament gave our players match fitness and I hope that they will certainly do well in the Africa Junior Championships. Players like Thabiso (Mabaka) played well and I think if he managed to beat the number ranked player in the continent, it is highly likely that he will do even better in this tournament," he said. Meanwhile, the ITF tournament attracted about nine sponsors led by Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic Bank, First National Bank (FNB) Gaborone Sun, Motor Centre and Barrets Courts. Botswana National Olympics Committee (BNOC) president, Negroes Kgosietsile gave P500 for the tournament. Other sponsors were International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Wesbank. ITF will sponsor the Africa Junior Championships.
