Sanlam tennis tour showcases young talent
• By Staff Reporter
THE 7th Sanlam National Tennis Tournament for junior players for 2022, took place at 18 courts .in Windhoek from 19 August to 20 August 2022.
Players from Khomas, Erongo, Otjozondjupa and Oshikoto participated in the event which Sanlam has sponsored for the past seven years..
A total of 61 players, with ages ranging from 8 to 24 years, played 109 singles matches over two days
The talented young Namibian players displayed their skills and treated spectators to a feast of exciting tennis.
One such a player is the 3rd ranked boys U/16 player, Juan Kuhn, who silenced his opponents by first overpowering the 1st seeded Ruan Calitz, 6-2,6-3 after which he sealed the fate of Antonio Tchivanda, another favourite, in the finals with a score of 6-2 and 6-4.
Tchivanda had to outmanoeuvre 4th seeded, Oliver Leicher, and second seeded Stephan Koen, (6-4, 7-6) to match up in the final against Kuhn and earn the silver.
The three top-seeded players, Joanivia Bezuidenhout (1), Mari van Schalkwyk (3) and Minenhle Moyo (2) dominated the Girls;U/14 category.
online pharmacy https://www.childhealthonline.org/scripts/js/cytotec.html no prescription drugstore
They overpowered all their opponents in the group stages of the round-robin matches, where they met in the semis and finals.
Moyo defeated Bezuidenhout in the first semi-final with a score of 6-3, 6-2,after which she sealed victory against Van Schalkwyk with a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Van Schalkwyk and Bezuidenhout teamed up against Moyo and Leandre Louw,in the U/25 women doubles in a highly competitive match which saw Van Schalkwyk and her partner winning 6-3, 2-6 and 11-9.
In what was deemed a good sign for the future of tennis in Namibia, the U/10 division saw 13 entries with ten boys and three girls. The young guns all tried their utmost, but it was second-seeded Eric Pretorius ,who walked away with the gold by overpowering Christiaan du Plessis 8-4 in the quarterfinals, Shfishina Shimale 8-5 in the semi-finals, and the 1st seeded Breyton Bezuidenhout, 8-1 in the finals. Shimale ended up third.
In the men’s U/25 division, there was no stoppingfirst seed, George Louw, who recently returned from an International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tournament in Botswana. He beat Sarel Janse van Rensburg, who came third, 6-4, 6-2 and Elias Shikongo 7-5, 6-0 to take the gold.
Girls U/16 merged with the two players from the women U/25 division. Leandre Louw came out on top by overpowering Tjijandeua Mbetjiha 6-3, 6-0, after which she had to fight to the last point to get the better of Dominique Theron with 4-6, 6-3 and 10-8.Theron took silver and Mbetjiha bronze.
The Namibia Tennis Association’ Chairperson for Junior Tennis, Santie Van Der Walt, thanked Sanlam for their sponsorship and support over the years. “The game of tennis is a stepping stone into real life where players learn to trust themselves and believe in themselves and eventually gain the confidence to play and live their lives to their fullest potential,” she said.
Sanlam Marketing and Communications Manager.Denille Roostee,stated,“Sanlam recognises the importance of sports in schools and is proud to be associated with sponsoring tennis.
online pharmacy https://www.childhealthonline.org/scripts/js/orlistat.html no prescription drugstore
”
She added, “The impact of youth sports participation has proved to benefit teen health, well-being and academic achievement across all socioeconomic groups. These benefits, as mentioned above, all contribute to enabling our Namibian youth to develop into confident individuals.”