A team of six junior players and two coaches were on Friday flagged off for the 12 & Under Africa Junior Tennis Competition (AJTC) finals slated for September 2-8 in Casablanca, Morocco.
The contingent was flagged off by Uganda Tennis Association (UTA) Public Relations Officer Osmond Atwiine at the Lugogo Tennis Complex.
The three girls include; Maggie Falvia Namaganda, Paula Awino and Eseza Muwanguzi while and three boys are Troy Zziwa, Julius Junior Nyata and Allan Otto – Captain. The two coaches are: John Oduke(boys) and Edward Odocken (girls).
Girls Coach Edward Odocken is optimistic the team has trained enough and ready for action. “The girls are in good shape and ready. They have been training as a team and I expect the best from them,” noted Odocken.
Uganda earned visa to Morocco after finishing second in the Confederation of Africa Tennis/International Tennis Federation (CAT/ITF ) 14 years and Under (14&U) Tournament held in Nairobi, Kenya in March. Namaganda managed to get three points in the Singles and was the only girl to claim points in any pool.
“There have been a lot of improvements ever since the Nairobi games. The team learnt a lot and I now expect a better performance,” added Odocken.
In boys, Trevor Kazibwe, 14 managed 110 points in Singles and 40 in doubles. He will however be missed in this age category as he heads to Tunisia for another competition. His brother Troy Ziwa who returned 15 and 40 points in singles and doubles respectively will be expected to put up the best performance. ‘I have been preparing for this tournament ever since we qualified for it,” the ITF Junior ranked star noted.
Other countries in the tournament are; Morocco (hosts), Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.
