Windhoek
Namibia’s Under-12 and 14 tennis teams are delivering good results at the ongoing International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Tennis Tournament in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
The Namibian team is represented by Under 12’s Johannes Swartz, Joshua Banard, Albertos Brinkman, Hendrina Apollus and Tinashe Mukumba, while Diken Dejongh, Luca Monteforte, Gina Moolman and Megan Lombardt are representing the country in the Under-14 category.
In the Under 12 girls’ section, Hendrina Apollus beat Mhizha Deborah from Zimbabwe 6-7,6-1,6-1. However, in the quarterfinals she lost to South African’s 4th seed Suzani Pretorius 6-0,6-1. In the Under-14 girls section, Gina Moolman raised the Namibian flag high when she stormed into the finals.
On her way to the finals Moolman defeated Zimbabwean Zhuwakini Charlotte 6-1,6-0 and went on to dispatch Arista Debris 6-1,6-0 to book herself a ticket to the final. After putting up a great fight she unfortunately lost the final to South African top seed Rochelle Pienaar 6-2, 6-3.
The rest of the Namibian team found the going tough, as they lost in their 1st and 2nd round matches in their respective categories. However, they are hoping to do better in the remaining to two legs, which will get underway in Botswana on Saturday.