International aces on court in Gauteng East
International junior tennis was staged over the weekend at the Gauteng East Tennis Complex in Lakefield, as part of the efforts of the International Club of South Africa (IC SA).
IC SA is part of a worldwide network of clubs from 40 countries.
Members comprise players and administrators who have represented their countries internationally.
Every alternate year sees a qualifying tournament on each of the six continents for top 16-year-old players.
Regional winners then compete the following year in the world finals of the IC Junior Challenge in a selected location.
The IC South Africa’s junior team has won the African Challenge on the last three occasions and has participated in the finals in Australia, Wimbledon and Monaco, with Tokyo being the venue for 2018.
The teams participating at the Benoni leg of the International Club Africa Challenge were Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.
The South African team comprised Joubert Klopper, Robbie Arends, Linge Steenkamp and Ntokozo Zungu.
The South African invitational team comprised Victor Putter and Thando Longwe-Smit.
Terrey Schweitzer is the coach.
A new venture for the International Club of South Africa this year is a Rising Stars Challenge which had six development tennis projects from Gauteng, North West and Free State all showcasing their respective strengths and progress.
A group of children, mostly from Daveyton, was seen getting to grips with the basics of the sport at the complex on the day.
“It is the first time that such players were able to demonstrate their abilities in this competitive team environment and it was a perfect opportunity to identify potential talent which might have otherwise slipped through the cracks,” said Leonie Grondel of the ICSA.
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