The manner in which the local team played in the qualifying tournament for the continent of Africa showed that wheelchair tennis continues to grow in South Africa, according to one of the officials of this sport in the country, Patrick Selepe.
The local team returned with bronze medals in Rabat, Morocco, following a third place finish in the BNP Paribas World Team Cup African Qualification at the weekend.
This team was made up of young players Bongumenzi Biyela (19) from Thekwini, Mpho Mhlongo (24) from Mohlakeng, Johannesburg, and Pheeha Machaka (18) from Blouberg, Limpopo.
It started the competition badly in the group stage, being defeated by the host country, Morocco 3-0, then got up and took the second round, defeating Ghana 3-0.
During the match against Ghana, Biyela won his match with Emmanuel Amosogo Amobire 6-0 6-1, Mhlongo defeated Bernard Yawson 6-0 6-3 and Mhlongo and Machaka won their doubles match.
In the semi-final, the local team was eliminated by Egypt, 2-1, but they wrapped up the competition well, defeating Cameroon 2-0 in the fight for the bronze medals.
In the last match, Machaka beat Isidore Kamgue 7-5 6-2, Mhlongo beat Alhadji Mouhaman 6-0 6-3.
Although finishing in third place means that the local team will not advance to the next stage of the qualifiers, Selepe, who is a coach and also an official in wheelchair tennis, thanked the young players for proving themselves.
“We did not expect to receive these awards because our team had young players. These are the players who are still developing and we are raising them to a higher level and we are happy because our plans are working,” said Selepe.
“They showed that they were not going to visit this tournament, but they were going to compete. We are proud of that.” he concluded.