Heese happy with junior's performance
Namibia's tennis coordinator is pleased with the performance of the juniors and the hosting of the Southern Africa Championships.
In the Southern African Junior Individual and Team's Championships
Five junior players who made it into the top 16 of the Southern African Junior Individual and Team's Championships failed to advance in the competition.
Despite this setback, tennis development coordinator Kallie Heese says he is proud of the players' performances.
“We had five players making it into the best 16 and this is some of the best results that we have achieved with this championship and I am very proud of the players and the coaches,” he said. Heese said the experience gained by the junior players is “very valuable”.
“As the tournament is progressing you can see how they are improving their level of play, as they are playing different kinds of styles and also learn form. It is also a high level tournament so they have to raise their own level,” he said, adding that with more opportunities for the players, they can improve and start being more competitive. He said the tournament also saw a development player making it to the top 16 and another highlight of the individual category.
He mentioned that hosting the tournament is a positive sign for the country saying other countries will see how Namibia can put together a tournament of such magnitude.
“If they think we are very successful in hosting international events I think we can even host more tournaments in future as they have already asked us to host other international events,” he said.
Heese pointed out that so far the Tennis Association is running the tournament well and expressed gratitude to the sponsors.
The tournament is organised by the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) in conjunction with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Namibia Tennis Association (NTA), with the support of the Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF).
Top U-14 and U-16 players from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are competing in the tournament.
KAINO NGHITONGO
Five junior players who made it into the top 16 of the Southern African Junior Individual and Team's Championships failed to advance in the competition.
Despite this setback, tennis development coordinator Kallie Heese says he is proud of the players' performances.
“We had five players making it into the best 16 and this is some of the best results that we have achieved with this championship and I am very proud of the players and the coaches,” he said. Heese said the experience gained by the junior players is “very valuable”.
“As the tournament is progressing you can see how they are improving their level of play, as they are playing different kinds of styles and also learn form. It is also a high level tournament so they have to raise their own level,” he said, adding that with more opportunities for the players, they can improve and start being more competitive. He said the tournament also saw a development player making it to the top 16 and another highlight of the individual category.
He mentioned that hosting the tournament is a positive sign for the country saying other countries will see how Namibia can put together a tournament of such magnitude.
“If they think we are very successful in hosting international events I think we can even host more tournaments in future as they have already asked us to host other international events,” he said.
Heese pointed out that so far the Tennis Association is running the tournament well and expressed gratitude to the sponsors.
The tournament is organised by the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) in conjunction with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Namibia Tennis Association (NTA), with the support of the Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF).
Top U-14 and U-16 players from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are competing in the tournament.
KAINO NGHITONGO
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