Malawians shine at junior tennis championships
Three of Malawi’s four representatives at the ongoing Southern African Under-14 and Under-12 Junior Circuit Championships made it into the semi-finals in Maputo, Mozambique on Thursday.
Lawn Tennis Association of Malawi’s (Ltam) media executive Tadala Kandulu said on Friday that Mwai Kadam’manja qualified for the last four singles event in the Under-14 girls category while Linda Msiska and Ramesh Banda made it in the Under-12 girls and boys categories respectively.
Kandulu said Kadam’manja triumphed 6-1, 6-1 over South African T. Langa in the quarter-finals whereas Msiska and Banda beat S. Madiwe of Botswana 6-4, 7-5 and Mozambican R. Siguaque 7-5, 6-3.
Under-14 boys’ ambassador, Honest Soko, stuttered in the round-of-16 with 5-7, 0-6 losses to a Mozambican.
“This is a rare achievement and we are impressed with the overall performance of the squad. We are hopeful that they will do better in the semis,” said Kandulu.
This is the second time in five months for Malawi junior lawn tennis players to excel in a competition after Morocco-based Chisomo Lumeta and Banda settled for gold and bronze respectively during the Southern African Junior Circuit Championships in Botswana.
Other Malawi flag carriers at the Maputo event Msiska, Zione Nkhoma and Anderson Mdala reached the quarter-finals.
