Rutendo Tom continues to shine

Zimpapers Sports Hub

UPCOMING tennis player Rutendo Tom continues to impress after winning the girls singles titles at the ITF/CAT 14-and-Under African Junior Circuit Mozambique Leg 1 and Leg 2.

Tom was one of the three Zimbabwean players that participated at the events that ran for just over a week in Maputo.

She beat fellow Zimbabwean Claire Majeye in both the first, and second leg.

The second leg ended on Sunday with Tom dismissing Majeye in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

However, the two had earlier teamed up to claim the doubles title when they defeated Mozambique’s pair of Jazara Alberto and Maya Ewababa 6-2, 6-1.

They carried the momentum from the first leg where they also won the title after beating Alberto and Kinaya Chonguika.

Tennis Zimbabwe general manager Linsent Chitiyo saluted the young players for excelling at the event.

“We are quite excited about the progress that they have made while competing in Mozambique, and also looking at the fact that they came from the Junior Circuits that were done in Botswana,” Chitiyo said.

“Looking forward we are quite excited. We are also anticipating that the same athletes are going to be an asset to our junior teams that are also going to be competing, representing the nation in 2025. “This marks a positive trend in terms of our junior growth and also looking at the fact that we continue to have a good record in terms of developing female athletes.” Unathi Sithole placed fourth in the boys’ category.

Before they participated in Mozambique, they had competed in Botswana.

Chitiyo said they are looking at building on the achievements of the players going into next year and also targeting the Youth Olympic Games in 2026.

“I think looking forward in terms of 2025, we are looking at also solidifying our performance within the region and also within the continent, both at the Zonals and African Junior Championships.

“And literally our 2024 year, these same athletes, they have been competing on our Under-12 team and Under-14 team that have been to Mozambique before, have been to Morocco, also competing on behalf of the nation.

“And in their transition into Under-14, it’s been quite positive in terms of their dominance, looking at that they can dominate the Junior Circuits, where it’s an open platform for players from various countries to participate and they continue to win.

“We hope that they will be able to maintain the same trend in 2025 and 2026.

“But we are also going beyond that, this is the same team that we are also projecting in terms of country representation in 2026 at the Youth Olympics.

“If you look at the age groups that you would then target, it’s the same age group as our Under-14s,” said Chitiyo.

Other junior players that have been on the rise include Joel Badza and Muchengeti Manzungu. They were part of the group that competed in Botswana.

Meanwhile, Tennis Zimbabwe are hosting the International Tennis Federation World Junior J60 in Bulawayo.

Last week the players took part in the J30 event, with Zimbabwe’s Chanelle Zhuwakini reaching the girl’s singles final.

She lost 4-6, 1-6 to Ofri Behr from Israel.

The J60 got underway yesterday at Bulawayo Country Club. It is running until Saturday. Tennis Zimbabwe will then conclude their local competitions with two tournaments in Mutare this month.