Local players off to African junior tennis champs
Pretoria's famous Barnard twins, Zani and Lee, have been included in the South Africa team to compete in the African junior championships in Tunisia.
Tennis SA named their under 18 boys and girls teams to participate in the upcoming African junior championships, and the well-known Pretoria sisters, Zani and Lee Barnard have been included.
Team members qualify for selection based on their International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranking and the top five ranked boys and girls.
Teams from 25 countries will battle it out over five days in Tunis, Tunisia from 8 to 13 February for the boys and girls singles and doubles crowns.
Team SA will depart on Thursday 28 January, and compete in the Tunisia Junior ITF- Grade 2 tournament in Tunis as part of their preparation for the championships.
The team is:
Boys: Damon Kesaris (KZN), Calvin Jordaan (WP), Bertus Kruger (GC), Richard Thongoana (GC) and Joshua Howard-Tripp (GE) and the coach is Stephan De Kock (WP).
Girls: Zani Barnard (GN), Lee Barnard (GN), Maxine Bateman (KZN), Nicole Petchey (WP) and Nadine de Villiers (GE) and the coach is Jason Smit (WP).
While none of the boys and girls are top seeds, all the five boys and the and the Barnard twins will be seeded.
Leon Freimond, Tennis SA manager of high performance said the team was a strong and competent side that would do the country proud. “The tournament is vitally important for the players to improve their ITF world rankings, and if they impress, they may well be selected to join ITF junior touring teams,” he said.
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