…another
tennis galore slated for August
Blessed
Chauke
Masvingo tennis players who were in
February and March supposed to play at a regional tournament held in South
Africa failed to travel to the tourneys after failing to secure funding,
TellZim News can report.
Masvingo Tennis Board Chairperson, Munyaradzi
Thomu told TellZim News that they missed Under18 International Tennis
Federation (ITF) tournaments that were played in South Africa because of lack
of financial resources.
“Unfortunately our Under 18 players
from Masvingo who were supposed to represent Zimbabwe ended up withdrawing because
of lack of financial resources.
“They missed the J4 tournament that was
played in Pretoria and the J5 tournament that was played in Potchefstroom. The
games were played from 8 March to 27 March in South Africa,” said Thomu.
Meanwhile, players have resumed
training and games ahead of a tennis galore which is slated for August where
the province’s finest tennis aces are expected to feature.
Practice and friendly matches are being
played as players gear up for what is expected to be an intriguing encounter,
since they have been on hold from last year March.
Thomu said that they were gearing up
for tourneys which will be hosted at Masvingo Sports Club.
“Local players started playing games
towards the end of March and we are going to host Masvingo Junior Closed
tournament from 14th-16th May at Masvingo Sports Club.
“Masvingo Junior Open tournament on the
23-26 August and Zimbabwe Closed tournament on the 27-30 August. Zimbabwe
Interprovincial tournament on 31 August to 3 September and all these tournaments
will be played at Masvingo Sports Club,” said Thomu.
He said they were planning to have
junior schools league starting from the second term and they will be taking young
players.
“We are planning to have schools junior
league starting second term and we will be taking players from 4 years and
upwards,” said Thomu.
Tennis is one of the few sports codes
which received a greenlight from the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to
resume action.
In a communique to its affiliates,
Tennis Zimbabwe has directed all local leagues and teams to appoint an
enforcement officer who will ensure adherence to Covid-19 guidelines.
“All tennis facilities will appoint
enforcement officers who will ensure adherence to the guidelines and these
requirements and guidelines will cover players who are registered with Tennis
Zimbabwe and have a clearance letter,” reads the communique.
Local tennis coach, Mark Chinyenyani, who
runs Heartbeat tennis academy said they were practicing in compliance with
Covid-19 regulations during training sessions.
“Tennis is a non-contact sport so we
were fortunate to be given the go ahead by SRC to resume practice. We have been
also limiting our group sessions to a maximum of four players per court, which
give them a healthy 3-6 metres apart each time.
“There are no handshakes at any given
time, we always encourage players to use rackets as their hand to avoid
contact,” said Chinyenyani.
