Hinda brothers claim doubles tournament

WINDHOEK-SPORT REPORTER Nguvi and Veri Hinda won the first doubles tournament of the KIA tennis series 2013 at Windhoek High School (WHS) over the weekend. In the decisive match against Hein Lingenfelder and Nina Burger, the two brothers seemed to be cruising to an easy victory, as they took a 5-2 lead in the final set. The eventual silver medallists, however, staged a great comeback forcing the Hinda siblings into a nail biting tiebreaker, which Lingenfelder and Burger lost 5-7. Caren and Nelia Swanepoel collected the bronze medals. The competition was played using a round robin system, with all the teams playing five matches. Jaco Burger and Zander Coetzee ended in sixth position, although they had managed to beat fourth-placed Kiana Cormack and Carien van Rooyen (6-3). Lisa Yssel and Denise Murorua prevailed in their encounter with Burger and Coetzee, which was decided by a tiebreak (7-2), to clinch fifth spot. The beauty of the round robin system is that all the participants get the exposure of playing many matches against their competitors to gain the necessary experience, commented event organiser, Elizma Nortje from the Pro-Tennis Academy (PTA). For the members of the midi court group it was the first time they were exposed to playing in the doubles format. Nortje described it as a great introduction to the doubles game and an excellent preparation for the transition to the full court . The most successful partnership was formed by Adam Diggle and Samar van der Merwe, who picked up 15 points more than Ethel Jossop and Leonardine Apollus, who were the runners-up. The youngsters in the mini category played singles on the service block courts. Once again it was Aviel van der Merwe who took top honours with 90 points, followed by Tji-Tji Mbetjiha (71 points) and Nathan Leeva (60). The four-year-old Vaja Mbetjiha (46) finished in fourth place. It's great to see the motivation and camaraderie amongst the players as well as their improvement compared to the previous tournament, stated Nortje, who announced that the next event will be a singles competition at WHS on May 31 and June 1.