THE Namibia Tennis Association will host the ITF CAT Southern African u14 and u16 tournaments in Windhoek from Friday, with Namibia’s Connor van Schalkwyk one of the favourites to win the boys u16 title.
The 15-year-old Van Schalkwyk, who attends the ITF Tennis Academy in Morocco, has been in great form over the past year, with his ITF u18 ranking shooting up to 337 in the world.
At the beginning of last year he wasn’t even ranked in the top 1 000, but his ranking shot up after some impressive performances over the past year, while he is now ranked fifth in Africa in the u18 age group category.
In singles competitions, he reached three quarter-finals in Grade 4 u18 ITF tournaments, as well as one semi-final in a Grade 5 ITF tournament.
He also teamed up with his older brother Codie to win their first doubles title at a Grade 4 ITF tournament in Tunisia, while he helped Namibia win the bronze medal at the Southern African Championships in Windhoek in January last year.
Van Schalkwyk will head a group of 24 Namibian players who will compete in A and B teams in the u16 and u14 categories.
His team mates in the boys u16 A team are George Louw and Daneel van der Walt, while the u16 B team consists of Dian Calitz, Sarel Janse van Rensburg and Albertus Brinkman.
The u16 A girls team consists of Hendrina Apollus, Kaylee van Wyk and Tinashe Mukumba, while the u16 B girls team consists of Larushka Kruger, Brumelda Brandt and Eila Kambonde.
The u14 A boys team consists of Oliver Leicher, Juan Kuhn and Ruben Nel, while the u14 B boys team consists of Ruben Haleinge, Frans Mwalundange and Stephan Koen.
The u14 A girls team consists of Raica Coelho, Sytisha Goagoses and Dominique Theron, while the u14 B team consists of Haylee Kidd, Odyciah Karaerua and Karla Terblanche.
More than 100 players from 10 countries will compete at the tournament which will start with the individual singles and doubles competitions tomorrow, and continue with the team competitions next week.
The matches will be held at the Central Tennis Courts and SKW courts in Olympia, starting at 08h30 on Friday.
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