High participation rate in the Sanlam Junior Tennis Tournament

JUNIOR Tennis began with a successful post-closing tournament, with 83 players under the age of 10-25 competing in Windhoek in both singles and doubles over the weekend.

Of the boys under 10, De Witt Bergh came first and Tadiwa Mombeyarara second.

Linda Alemu defeated the u10 girls overall when she first beat three opponents in her round Robin group and then defeated Elrica Nakusera in the 8-0 final. Meat Tromp came in third after winning Janah King 8-3.

The U12 division will play 20 individual matches in the round Robin block stage, with four players advancing to the next round.

In the semifinals, Samuel Nel defeated Brian Edwards 7-5, 6-4, while Johan Theron defeated Luan Brand by 6-2, 6-2.

The final progressed to lead when 9-year-old Theron started leading each series, but then 11-year-old Nel took him in. In the end, only a few points made the difference when first-placed Samuel Nel took gold in the final 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6).

Mari van Schalkwyk, who finished fourth in the girls ’U14 semifinals, surprisingly surprised by beating first-placed Joanivia Bezuidenhout 5-7, 6-3, 10-5, while Santie van der Walt defeated Zoe Bronkhorst 6-2, 6- 1 in the second semifinals. In the final, Van Schalkwyk didn’t stop when he beat Van der Waltin 6-0, 6-2.

In the semifinals of the boys under 14, first place Lian Kuhn defeated third-placed Abraham Alemu 6-4 and 6-4, while second-placed Eduan Schollij defeated fourth Corne Koen 6-1, 6-4.

The final was another battle until the end, and Schollij eventually won the match 7-6 (7), 6-7 (7), 10-4.

Stephan Koen, who finished fourth in the boys ’u16 semifinals, surprised first-place finisher Oliver Leicher with a win of 3-6, 6-2, 11-9, but 12-year-old Ruben Yssel won the title after winning Koen. In the final 7-6, 6-2.

Dominique Theron dominated the girls ’U16 division by beating Kyla Gillen 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

In line with neighboring tennis tournaments, Namibia Junior Tennis has introduced a division under 25 instead of the traditional under 18s. This was originally done to provide stronger and more diverse competition for players under the age of 18, while at the same time expanding the number of tournaments for young adult players who want to be competitive.

There were only two entries in the girls ’u25 class, and Elze Stears beat Larushka Kruger 6-0, 6-0.

The series of men under the age of 25 saw ten highly competitive jobs. In Group 1, Daniel Jauss rose to the top after defeating Nguvi Hinda (7-6, 3-6 and 10-5) and Dian Calitz (6-7, 6-3, 10-7).

In the second group, George Louwin’s hardest race was Dantago Gawanab, which he won 6-3, 7-5.

Jauss defeated Gawanab in a very tough semi-final 3-6, 6-1, 13-11, while Louw had to fight to the end to beat Hinda 6-2, 2-6, 10-8. The final was played on Sunday morning when Jauss took the gold against Louw with a score of 6-3, 6-4.

The Namibia Tennis Association thanked Sanlam for his friendly sponsorship.

It is such sponsorships that ensure the continuity of Namibian junior tournaments. Without regular tournaments, we will not be able to develop local tennis talent to be more competitive, and we are truly grateful to Sanlam for their continued support over the years.

The next junior tournament will be held in Swakopmund over the weekend of September 10th.