36 Youngsters take to the court in tournament
Tennis players from all the five districts in the province made their rackets sing during the second annual Cell C Tennis Tournament that was held at the Polokwane tennis courts on Saturday.
POLOKWANE – Tennis players from all the five districts in the province made their rackets sing during the second annual Cell C Tennis Tournament that was held at the Polokwane tennis courts on Saturday.
This year, only players aged between 10 and 14 years participated.
Tournament results:
u/10
Idenei Smit was overall winner in girls’ u/10 class and Rethabile Rakgole first position in the boys’ u/10 class. The two winners walked away with trophies and other goodies for their hard work.
Kalista de Beer received the girls’ u/10 runner-up prize while Henry Owens earned the boys’ u/10 runner-up award
u/12
Byron Andrew came first in the boys’ u/12 category. There were no girls in the u/12 category.
u/14
Michaela Gilfillan defeated Christine Kruger in the u/14 girls final 6/4 and 6/3 while Zander Smit defeated Michael Douglas in an epic boys final that went the distance. Michael suffered a 6/2, 2/6 and 7/6 loss.
Sarel van Rooyen, tournament organiser, said about 36 tennis players competed in the tournament. “This is an individual tournament organised by Cell C. Our main aim is to develop the sport of tennis in the province. It seems like most people do not see tennis as a sport anymore so we want to change their mindset and encourage them to play tennis like before,” Van Rooyen said. He added that the tournament is open to everyone and they plan to make it bigger next year to cater for as many age groups as possible.
There was no official prize-giving ceremony after the tournament as most parents had to drive as far as Musina and Phalaborwa to get home concludes Van Rooyen.
