The 2011 Harare November Tennis Tournament serves off at Old Hararians Sports Club tomorrow with more than 100 junior players expected to slug it out for top honours.
Tournament director Linsent Chitiyo yesterday said over 100 players from Harare Province were expected to grace the annual tournament.
“The deadline for the registration process was Tuesday and the response from young players was overwhelming and we are just finalising the draw and order of play.
“We have over 100 players from the Under-12, Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 age groups categories who would take part in the tournament,” said Chitiyo.
The tournament is being organised by the Harare Metropolitan Province Tennis Board to give young players exposure and an opportunity to secure ranking points.
“It’s nice to see young players competing regularly in local tournaments as it prepares them for not only interprovincial competitions, but also picking for national assignments.
“This tournament will also be important for us as we are in the process of updating our ranking system for young players in the province.
Ranking points will be up for grabs for young players who excel, which will make the competition exciting. There are no clear favourites as all players have equal chance of winning in their age groups,” said Chitiyo.
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Tinotenda Alufeyo and Tariro Dembo are the defending champions in the Under-18 boys’ and girls’ categories respectively.
The Chigaazira siblings, Mark and Tadiwa-dominated the boys’ Under-14 and U-12 categories in the last tournament and would be eager to retain their titles.
Some of the exciting young players expected to shine at the tournament include Tadiwa Chinamo, Julius Mthethwa, Richard Lock, Kimberley Bhunu and Munashe Kaone.
Meanwhile, promising young players Ronzai Saurombe and Courtney Lock are still in the running at the International Tennis Federation East Africa Under-18 Circuit, Burundi, after reaching the third round yesterday.
Lock and Saurombe cleared the first two hurdles after winning their first and second round singles matches at the Entente Sportive de Burundi in Bujumbura.
According to reports from the East African country, Lock was scheduled to meet Burundi’s Guy Iradukunda while Saurombe had to get past Egypt’s Omar Gamal El Din for a place in the quarter-finals.
