South Africa wins the Beach Tennis African Cup (Southern and Eastern region) and secures its spot in this year’s ITF Beach Tennis World Cup
The inaugural Beach Tennis African Cup for the southern and eastern regions got underway at Badplaas (South Africa) at the Forever Resort in Mpumalanga. The event featured host South Africa as well as Mozambique and Uganda.
The women’s doubles was the inaugural match, with Ubeya Bique and Ana Vasilis of Mozambique winning against the Ugandan pair 6-4 6-4. In the men’s doubles, Stelio Carlos and Jaime Siguaque (MOZ) took on Moses Bashaasha and Jonathan Mugisha (UGA) in three sets 6-4 3-6 10-5. With Mozambique having already secured a 2-0 lead, the teams completed the tie in the mixed doubles. The Ugandan pair of Moses Bashaasha and Sandra Khissa was desperate not to go down 3-0. However, Mozambique’s Jaime Sigauque and Ubeyla Bique were full of confidence and ensured that the tie was completed 3-0 with a 6-3 7-5 victory to end the opening day’s play.
On the Thursday morning session, South Africa ran away with victory in all three matches against Mozambique without losing a game. Mozambique had to retire in the mixed doubles when Ana Vasilis injured her wrist, attempting to dive for a ball at the end of the first set.
This left Uganda with the uphill struggle of having to defeat South Africa 3-0 in an attempt to force a three-way tie within the group, with South Africa and Mozambique being level with one victory each.
Uganda put their best foot forward, but ultimately the hosts were too strong for the visitors, with South Africa wrapping up the tie 3-0 in relative ease to earn their qualification spot.
With both victories, South Africa clinch the southern and eastern African spot in this year’s ITF Beach Tennis World Cup, which is due to take place in October.
Results
Mozambique – Uganda 3-0
Women’s Doubles: Ubeya Bique/Ana Vasilis (MOZ) vs. Patience Athieno/Sandra Khissa (UGA) 6-4 6-4
Men’s Doubles: Stelio Carlos/Jaime Siguaque (MOZ) vs Moses Bashaasha/Jonathan Mugisha (UGA) 6-4 3-6 10-5
Mixed Doubles: Jaime Sigaugue/Ubeyla Bique (MOZ) vs Moses Bashaasha/Sandra Khissa (UGA) 6-3 7-5
South Africa – Mozambique 3-0
Women’s Doubles: Joane’ Janse van Rensburg/Laeticia Lourens (RSA) vs Ubeyla Bique/Ana Vasilis (MOZ) 6-0 6-0
Men’s Doubles: Jody Claasen/Reynard Steenkamp (RSA) vs. Stelio Carlo/Jaime Sigauque (MOZ) 6-0 6-0
Mixed Doubles: Ryan Brookshaw/Kyla Yelverton (RSA) vs Jaime Sigaugue/Ana Vasilis (MOZ) 6-0 ret.
South Africa – Uganda 3-0
Women’s Doubles: Kyla Yelverton/Joane’ Janse van Rensburg (RSA) vs Patience Athieno/Sandra Khissa (UGA) 6-0 6-0
Men’s Doubles: Ryan Brookshaw/Jody Claasen (RSA) vs Moses Bashaasha/Jonathan Mugisha (UGA) 6-0 6-3
Mixed Doubles:Reynard Steenkamp/Laeticia Lourens (RSA) vs Jonathan Mugisha/Patience Athieno (UGA) 6-1 6-0
African Beach Tennis Championships (Southern & Eastern Africa Regions)
On Friday 21 and Saturday 22 May, the African Championships took place, where the players partner one another in men’s doubles and women’s doubles.
Laetitia Lourens and Kylia Yelverton claimed the title after winning all four matches in the Women’s doubles event. The South African pair did not lose a single set in the played round-robin format at Badplaas (South Africa).
In the Men’s doubles event, seven teams from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique competed for the African Beach Tennis Championships title. Jody Alan Claassen and Lionel Jarrad qualified for the final, finishing first in Group A. Ryan Brookshaw and Reynard Steenkamp came on top of Group B and also claimed the victory in a fully South African final with 6-1 7-5.
Find all Women’s Doubles and Men’s Doubles results here.
These two days saw players gain valuable time on the sand as it is thought that match time is a key factor at this stage in order to continue the further development of beach tennis in the region.
A development clinic courtesy of Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency was held on Saturday morning for children from the local community, with a workshop being held in the afternoon for all players to learn more about the basics of beach tennis and to be able to share ideas on how to grow the game.
Source: itftennis.com
Photo Credit: Tennis South Africa
