Strong start for Namibia at ITF J60 Pretoria

Tennis
Israel Dowie, Mari van Schalkwyk and Joanivia Bezuidenhout have all won their opening matches in the group stage.
Mariud Ngula
  • 20 Hours Ago

Namibia’s top juniors competing at the J60 Pretoria tennis tournament are off to a strong start, with three of the four Namibia-flagged players winning their opening group-stage matches on Tuesday.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) U18 Junior World Tennis Tour event began with qualifying on Monday and will run until Sunday in South Africa.

The Namibian contingent comprises girls Mari van Schalkwyk and Joanivia Bezuidenhout, alongside boys Johan Nicolaas Theron, Israel Dowie and Jaden van der Westhuizen, who competes under the German flag.

Theron and Van der Westhuizen had to go through qualifying. The rest of the Namibian players earned direct acceptance into the main draw through several entry categories.

Van der Westhuizen played only one qualifying match after receiving a first-round bye as the eighth seed, while 10th seed Theron had to start in the first qualifying round and therefore played two matches.

Theron first beat South Africa’s Panagiotis Christoforakis 6-1, 6-2 before defeating Van der Westhuizen 6-1, 6-1 to book his place in the main draw.


Opening victories

Namibia’s strong start in the group stage came through Israel Dowie in Group C, where he beat South Africa’s Jamie Roux 6-3, 7-5.

Dowie played South Africa’s Mpho Bowers yesterday. The result was not available at the time of going to print.

Competing in the girls’ Group C and H, Van Schalkwyk and Bezuidenhout also won their opening matches.

Van Schalkwyk beat Canada’s Iman Bajramovic 6-2, 6-2, while Bezuidenhout overcame South Africa’s Nina Janse van Vuuren 6-3, 6-3.

Van Schalkwyk was set to play Milan Swanepoel of South Africa, while Bezuidenhout was also drawn against South Africa’s Gitta Victor.

Theron had a slow start in the main draw, falling to South Africa’s Juvan van Pletzen 6-2, 6-2 in Group A. The Namibian was drawn to face top seed Alex Lap Hang Hui of Hong Kong yesterday.


Upcoming events

Speaking on the team’s international outing, Namibia Tennis Association (NTA) convener Jandre Bezuidenhout said the J60 Pretoria event is an important step in preparing the players for major international competitions.

“This forms part of our preparations for the Region Five Youth Games, the women’s Billie Jean King Cup and the men’s Davis Cup events,” he said.

“We would like to thank the sports ministry, the sports commission and the National Olympic Committee for their unwavering support behind the scenes.”

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