The national Under-14 junior tennis team will leave for Algeria tomorrow ahead of the lTF World Cup qualifiers scheduled for 11 to 18 of this month in Algiers.
The top two teams will qualify for the main event in Czech Republic in August this year.
Freeman Nyamunokora, who doubles as coach and captain, will accompany the three young-players to the North African country. The team is made up of Tadiwa Chinamo, Keith Wakatama and Julias Mutetwa.
Chinamo qualified for the Algiers event after putting up a commendable show at the African Junior Championships which were hosted by Egypt recently. He finished ninth out of 32 finalists. Mutetwa and Wakatama qualified through playoffs recently.
Nyamunokora said he was aiming for a top-two finish, but believed Egypt and South Africa were their major threats.
“l think all three players are mentally strong to come up with something, but we should be wary of South Africa and Egypt which are the continent’s top teams,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s number one professional tennis player Takanyi Garanganga will by next week know if he has received a wild card entry for the London Olympic Games.
Garanganga, who won a gold medal at last year’s All-Africa Games in Mozambique, is seeking a wild card entry for the Olympics as he does not meet the qualifying criteria.
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According to the current criteria, the top 56 players in the world as of Monday next week will automatically qualify for the Olympics with each country allowed only four entrants.
There are eight wild card picks, six of which will be chosen by the International Tennis Federation and two by the International Olympic Committee three days later on June 14.
The criterion leaves Garanganga out of the picture for automatic qualification as he is currently ranked 10th in Africa and 582 on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour world rankings.
