Kenyan siblings win Puma tourney
Once again the dominance of foreign players poked fun at the dismal performance of local stars at the Puma Energy Malawi Open Lawn Tennis Championships where Kenyan siblings Ishmael and Shufa Changawa emerged victors in both singles and mixed doubles finals.
Ishmael snatched the men’s singles trophy from three-time champion Edgar Kazembe with an emphatic 6-4, 6-4 win to earn the $2 000 (about K800 000) winner’s prize at the Blantyre Sports Club while her sister Shufa did it in the ladies section with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Nancy Oniya.
They also triumphed in the mixed doubled finals where they beat a pair of Malawian players James Matewere and Mary Luhanga.
The farthest that Malawians went in the men’s singles event was to reach the quarter-final stage through former national champion Julius Taulo.
In the ladies’ section, Patricia Matola-Mlamba and Luhanga managed to reach the semi-finals. In the men’s doubles finals, local stars Taulo and James Matewere stuttered 6-4, 6-4 to Zambians Kazembe and Nkumbu Chonya.
Kenyan Shufa Changawa and Tanzanian Rehema Athumane paired in the ladies’ doubles to beat DRC’s Oniya and Zambian Maggie Mutare 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
Puma Energy’s managing director Davies Lanjesi, whose fuel company has been bankrolling the annual contest for four years, promised to continue sponsoring the competition.
However, the pledge came with a plea for local players to pull up their worn-out socks.
“As sponsors, we always want the best players to win and we congratulate the Kenyans on their victory. Nevertheless, it can be sweeter if we see Malawians taking the crown. Next year, we will come back and we are hopeful that local players will dominate,” he said.
Guest of honour, Blantyre City’s mayor Noel Chalamanda appreciated Puma Energy’s K8 million tennis sponsorship, but he asked the company to consider bankrolling another tournament in schools so that things can start to change for the better from the grassroots.
It’s always great to have companies hosting competition as one of the ways to benefit communities. There is always next time; our Malawian players will make it. Only a few can be victors but many can be successful. Well done to our local players for giving it a shot.