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Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
THE Masvingo Junior Tennis Open which was held over the weekend was marred by a poor turnout which saw only 44 tennis players making it to the tournament.
Five provinces namely Harare, Bulawayo, Midlands, Manicaland and hosts Masvingo participated in the event.
As a result of the low turnout, there were few entries in the Under-18 girls’ category as well as the Under-16 boys and girls’ categories and these were subsequently removed from the programme.

Despite the poor turnout, the Masvingo Tennis Board coach, Mark Chinyenyani, who was the tournament co-ordinator, said the level of competition was high.

“We are obviously disappointed with the low turnout which I believe the weather played a major factor in all this. However, the level of competition in this year’s open was high which shows that our efforts to groom and nurture talent is bearing fruit,” he said.

Chinyenyani also extended gratitude to sponsors who bankrolled the junior jamboree to make it a success.
In the Under-18 singles boys, Manicaland’s Richard Ngwarwi was the winner after beating Midlands’ Takunda Dube in the final.

Ngwarwi was to partner Anesu Kwirirai for the doubles final of the same age-group in which they outclassed the Midlands duo of Dube and Stanley Muneri in the final.

It was another Manicaland and Midlands duel in the final of the Under-14 boys’ category where Anesu Kwirirai of Mutare beat Hasley Masara of Kwekwe while Chido Chimbete of the Midlands overcame Takudzwa Mawisire of Bulawayo in the final of the Under-14 girls age-group.

The pair of Mawisire and Tanyaradzwa Murape of Masvingo then teamed up and defeated Chido Chimbetete and Ropafadzo Mutopa of the Midlands in the Under-14 doubles final.