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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
LOCAL tennis players who were competing in the ongoing ITF South/Central junior circuit will now have to watch the event from the sidelines after they all bowed out on Wednesday.

The tournament is the second of three events that will run until August 22 with players from different countries taking part.

Zimbabwe had more than 15 players taking part in the tournament but most of them were sent packing in the first and second round.

And, on Wednesday, it was the same story in the third round with all the remaining players losing their matches.

Tadiwa Chinamo, who is Zimbabwe’s top junior player in the competition, lost 5-7, 6-2, 2-6, to Kevin Cheruiyot of Kenya while Mehluli Sibanda, who had a good outing last week in the first tournament where he reached the final, went down to South Africa’s Cameron Petersen 6-1, 2-6, 4-6.

Chinamo partnered third seed Mohamed Abdel-Aziz from Egypt in the doubles and they lost 2-6, 0-6 to fifth seeds Jack Burkill and Luke Hammond of Great Britain.

Sibanda on Tuesday said fatigue was catching up with him after some tough matches last week.

In the girls section, Rufaro Chirewa, was defeated by Ciney Bekker from South Africa 6-4, 6-0 .

Kimberly Kaome also suffered a 2-6, 0-6 defeat at the hands of sixth seed Julia Vulpio from the Dominican Republic while Michelle Ncube lost 2-6, 1-6 to Imaan Hassim from South Africa.

Tennis Zimbabwe administrator Cliff Nhokwara on Tuesday said the tournaments were a platform for local players to learn and improve their game.

“It’s a continuous learning process, that’s pretty much the reason we continue to host these events.

“I can guarantee you we will not be able to produce a good player within a short period of time.

“You are looking at about a five-year process to come up with a solid player.

“So hosting these tournaments is a way of developing and ensuring we get to what we are trying to produce,” said Nhokwara.

Zimbabwe has been hosting these events since 2012.