Gathuru brothers ace NTA junior tourney

The Gathuru brothers, Steven and Peter, made the latest round of the Namibia Tennis Association (NTA) Junior Tennis Tournament a family affair by winning the boys’ U16 and U12 singles titles, respectively, last weekend.

Held at the Central Tennis Courts in Windhoek, the sixth junior tournament attracted 75 of the country’s up-and-coming players to the capital for two days of competition as they continued their development on the local circuit.

Competing in the boys’ U16 division, fourth seed Steven opened his campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Eric Pretorius to set up an encounter with top seed Lazarus Kanelombe.

Steven drew first blood by taking the opening set 6-2 before Kanelombe levelled the match by winning the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6(4). Steven then held his nerve in the deciding match tiebreak to secure a 6-2, 6-7(4), [10-8] victory.

The win put him through to the final, where he faced Benji Carstens in another tense three-setter. Steven recovered after losing the second set to take the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and claim the title.

Season’s first title

Steven welcomed the gold medal from what he described as his first tournament of the year.

“I feel good that I came here and won a gold medal. I couldn’t play as much tennis this year as I did the previous year because of school commitments. But in the little time I had, I tried my best to practise all my weak shots,” he said.

He said the work he had put into improving his weaker shots before the tournament played an important role in his victory.

“My opponents were very good, especially Lazarus and Benji, [who both forced me to three sets]. They were very tough opponents. We were also joined by a lot of newcomers, [which I believe] is a sign that the NTA is excelling,” he noted.

The boys’ U16 bronze medal went to Kanelombe.

Steven also won a doubles silver medal alongside Kanelombe after they lost the final to Breyton Bezuidenhout and Pretorius 7-5, 2-6, [7-10].

Peter’s title run

Steven’s younger brother Peter began his title run with a first-round bye as the third seed.

In his first match, he made light work of Mikhail Kyababa, whom he dispatched 6-0, 6-1 in the second round. Peter continued his dominant run in the semi-finals, beating second seed Ilan Aisindi 6-2, 6-0 to book his place in the final.

He once again proved too strong in the title decider, beating Roberto Mazumo 6-3, 6-3 to claim the boys’ U12 singles crown.

Peter could not hide his delight when asked for his thoughts on winning the title.

“I am very happy. I haven’t won the boys’ U12 title for a long time,” he said.

Peter said his preparations focused on improving one aspect of his game at a time and mastering it before moving on to the next challenge. He also thanked his coaches for helping make the victory possible.

The boys’ U12 singles bronze medal went to Aisindi, while the doubles titles went to Junior Haraseb and Mazumo, who took gold, and Joshua Cowley and Marcel Diehl, who won silver.

Other boys’ champions

Other categories also produced standout performances across the boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles divisions.

Boys’ U14: 1 Joshua Diergaardt, 2 Pameni Paulus, 3 Shafiishuna Shimali.

Boys’ U14 doubles: 1 Paulus/Shimali, 2 Diergaardt/Zephan van der Westhuizen.

Boys’ U10: 1 Faan Vermaak, 2 Pwoove Paulus, 3 Andre Oliver.

Boys’ U10 doubles: 1 Oliver/Vermaak, 2 Shikongo Aisindi/Kunomundu Kavari.

Girls’ and women’s champions

The tournament also saw organisers introduce a women’s U25 category to the junior event to raise the level of competition.

Women’s U25: 1 Natalia #Ouses, 2 Ndeumono Wilhelm, 3 Hendrina Ndakola.

Women’s U25 doubles: 1 #Ouses/Secilia Nghitewapo, 2 Milan de Lange/Elrica Nakusera.

Girls’ U16: 1 Nakusera, 2 Nghitewapo, 3 De Lange.

Girls’ U16 doubles: 1 Albertina Johannes/Tonata Shikololo.

Girls’ U14: 1 Bezuidenhout, 2 Johannes, 3 Madison Hoff.

The girls’ U14 doubles players competed against opponents from the girls’ U16 and women’s U25 divisions.

Girls’ U10: 1 Abigail Kapenda, 2 Adele Buys, 3 Aishwarya Radhakrishnan.

There were no entries in the girls’ U10 doubles category.

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