Story by Mthokozisi Dube
PLAY at the ITF J30 Tournament in Bulawayo was disrupted by rain on Wednesday, forcing organisers to temporarily suspend matches during the group stages.
The weather interruption is expected to impact the tournament schedule, with players yet to complete round-robin fixtures. However, tournament director Tarwira Chikunichawa expressed confidence that the event will conclude as planned.
“Yes, today being Wednesday, we are playing our round robin, and we were meant to be halfway through by now, but we had the rain delay. Hopefully, we will play a couple of games today so that tomorrow we can start our quarter-finals. We had wanted to wind up our group stage matches today, but we remain optimistic of finishing the tournament,” he said.
Despite the disruption, Zimbabwean players have delivered strong performances, with several emerging as contenders for the knockout stages.
“In the girls’ section, we have a number of players doing well. Chanelle Zhuwakinyi is performing strongly and is likely to top her group. Rutendo Mavhenyengwa is also leading, as well as Rutendo Tom. Akilla is also in contention, so we are set to have a number of our players in the quarter-finals. We anticipate at least five Zimbabwean girls progressing. On the boys’ side we have Makanaka Hwata, who has won two of his matches,” Chikunichawa added.
The tournament is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, after which players will shift focus to the upcoming ITF Tournament in Gaborone next week.
