Theron fights back for CAT U14 bronze

Tennis
Phillipus Josef
  • 3 Months Ago 11 July 2024
The Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) Under 14 Leg 1 tournament took place at the Windhoek’s Central Tennis Club in Olympia from last Thursday until Tuesday.

The Namibian team, comprised of Johan Theron, Luan Brand, Tadiwa Mombeyarara, Natalia Ouses, Jaden van der Westhuizen and Secelia Nghitewapo, competed against the top selected U14 players from Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Botswana and Zimbabwe in both singles and doubles.



Boys singles

In the singles matches, Johan Theron advanced to the second round via walkover against Tunisia’s Youssef Lahmar. Showing what he is made of, Theron then defeated Zimbabwe’s Tinashe Phatshwane with a decisive 6-1, 6-1 victory.

He was eventually defeated in the semi-finals by Libya’s Ahmed Amid (2-6, 4-6).

In the third-place play-off, Theron showed resilience by bouncing back to beat Muchengeti Manzungu (Zimbabwe) in a tough best-of-three sets match, finishing 5-7, 6-2, 10-5.

Unfortunately, both Luan Brand and Tadiwa Mombeyarara were unable to progress past the first round.



Girl’s singles

In the girls' category, Natalia Ouses and Secelia Nghitewapo both advanced to the second round, but faced strong opponents, resulting in their elimination.

The two Namibians then faced each other for the 7th/8th position, where Ouses emerged victorious, defeating Nghitewapo 6-2, 6-2.



Doubles

The doubles category saw some limited success for the Namibian players. Brand and Van der Westhuizen teamed up and progressed past the initial round, but were defeated in the second round by the pair of Ahmed Amid (Libya) and Amasiani Chukwudubem (Nigeria).

Mombeyarara and Theron performed well in their first-round match, winning 6-3, 6-1, but they too were defeated in the subsequent round by Zimbabwe’s Muchengeti Manzungu and Botswana’s Tinashe Phatshwane.

Ouses teamed up with Elrica Nakusera. They won their first-round match 6-2, 6-4, but could not overcome Botswana's Angel Chakanyuka and Malak Macheng in the following round, losing 6-1, 6-1.

Meanwhile, Nghitewapo partnered with Zimbabwe’s Claire Majeye, but they were eliminated in the first round by the Kenyan pair of Liya and Naila Gikunda with a score of 6-2, 6-3.