ZIM BRACE FOR HONG KONG
TENNIS Zimbabwe president Walter Jera says they are hoping their Davis Cup team will rise to the occasion when they face Hong Kong this weekend in the World Group II Play-offs.
The tie is set for Saturday and Sunday at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium, in Hong Kong.
TZ announced the team yesterday.
It is made up of the Lock brothers — Benjamin and Courtney, who have been part of the team for some time, and upcoming players, Benedict Badza and Tatenda Mutetwa.
Takanyi Garanganga continues in his role as non-playing captain.
Mutetwa joins the team for the first time. Badza, who has been part of the development squad played in the Africa Group III event where Zimbabwe earned their promotion back into the World Group II Playoffs last August, in South Africa.
Jera is hoping the team will do well and said they are bringing in young players to learn from the experienced players as they prepare for the future.
“You will notice that we have been having Courtney and Benji in the team…So obviously our strategic view is to now have youngsters who understudy and take advantage of these guys who have been on tour for some time.
“This is why we have Benedict Badza, who featured in the last tournament in Pretoria…I think the one who has actually been dropped is Takura Mhwandagara.
“The captain made a choice for Tatenda Mutetwa from his own assessment, they are all juniors and in his view he has more depth.
“But we have all this group of youngsters whom we would want to see through as take overs from Benji and Courtney who have ably led Zimbabwe to take us to Group II,” said Jera.
Jera said they would want to stay in World Group II as they also prepare for the future.
“What we would want at this stage is to be able to stay in Group II. Why that? The depth that we have, which is where we are starting obviously cannot take us to Group I. So we need to be realistic there.
“So with this strategic plan we have these juniors coming through. The younger juniors whom are participating in the Africa Junior Championships and this pool of juniors who are understudying Courtney and Benji.”