Tennis looks to make ground after lost year
After a lost year, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) has embarked on a robust programme aimed at ensuring the standards of the game are maintained, despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) challenges.
Following the health director’s green light to sporting activities return after the national lockdown, the association held numerous events that include coaching clinics and tournaments.
BTA president, Oaitse Thipe said they have lost six weeks of tournaments that carry international rankings for players. He said this year they had expected to host players from all corners of the globe.
“It’s unfortunate that our international ratings would remain stagnant, but we are organising numerous tournaments to ensure our players’ local ratings do not also suffer,” Thipe said.
“We have missed a great deal in improving our attraction to international players. They helped us improve our game over the past years and also contributed to other facets of the economy that sponsors our game.”
Thipe said the recent inactivity had an obvious impact on their players on and off the court. On the brighter side, he said, several local stars that were based in Florida, North Carolina, and San Diego in the United States of America are back home and are injecting international standard competition to local tournaments.
“We are robust in organising regional tournaments locally so that we help our players return to their usual sharpness, and are ready for when the borders return to full function. We are also reaching to a lot of young players across the country to unearth talent,” he said.
He noted that before the pandemic, Botswana was on the rise in the development of young players. He singled out 15-year-old Denzil Setso who is ranked number one African Junior player and 14-year-old Mark Nawa ranked 10th in Africa, as a testimony of potential at the nation’s disposal.
A fortnight ago, BTA held the 2020 Botswana Open Junior Tennis tournament in Gaborone and Nawa triumphed in the Under-18 category. Tropicana Distributors sponsored the competition.
At the end of the month, the association would host two tournaments; the Gaborone Senior Open Championship and the Phikwe Junior Tournament in Gaborone and Selebi-Phikwe respectively.
“We have spread our tournaments across the country to reduce incessant travelling for our players as we join hands in combating the pandemic. Next month we have another junior tournament lined up for Serowe,” Thipe said.
He said Rhodes Distributors would be sponsoring the tournaments. Thipe said tennis has managed to observe COVID-19 health protocols.