Tennis star makes it
Ramesh Banda has qualified for this year’s Africa Junior Championship after finishing seventh during the CAT/ITF Southern Africa Junior Championship held in Botswana.
The under-16 player defeated Armando Sigauque of Mozambique 6-3 6-3 in the second-round, before reaching the quarter-finals after beating Theron Konrad of Namibia 6-0 6-3.
The Malawian lost in the quarter-finals to a South African top seed in the under-16 category.
Banda’s compatriot, Sekelani Makuluni, was booted out in the first-round after losing to a Mozambican 2-6 2-6.
Banda and Sekelani, together with their Coach Hackson Methiwa, returned home on Sunday despite that the qualifying competition is in progress in Botswana.
“The competition is on-going in team events. We failed to raise a team because we only had two players. We could have competed in team events if we had a minimum of four players,” Methiwa said.
The coach described the trip as a success.
“If we had sent a lot of players, we could have increased our chances of winning medals,” he said.
Lawn Tennis Association of Malawi failed to source adequate funds so as to send a six-member squad.
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