Because of lockdown regulations that prohibited amongst others, provincial events, and the limitation of players allowed in the tennis court at the given time as per stipulation (Adjusted lockdown regulation level 4 allowed 4 players plus a coach in the tennis court.
The management of Hammanskraal Tennis Club (HTC) decided to hold an Inter club tournament at the Mandela Sports Complex in Hammanskraal in conjunction with Tlhatlha Attorneys and Mpho Makhoba Tennis Foundation recently.
The tourney was divided into 4 categories and 42 players participated, the first one being, the Red group (beginners) comprising of kids between ages of 5 to 8, 18 kids participated in this category followed by the Orange group with kids between age 8 to 10, 14 kids took part.
The Green group were kids between 10 and 14, advanced beginners with high level of competition And 8 players participated in this category, the yellow group( 14 to open) This was divided into 2 groups, the Gold section. 6 Players participated in this category lastly The Platinum section 16 players participated in this section. This section involved more advanced tournament players
One of the event organisers Mr Simon Tlhatlha said “We would love to see tennis being introduced to schools, facilities being built to encourage participation and existing clubs be supported by the Government and the federation.”
Seeing an increase in people taking part in tennis as a sport Tlhatlha said “When HTC started, it had about 6 players, that was around 2017. Now the club has over 200 registered players now. Hammanskraal falls under Gauteng North and HTC is an affiliate of Gauteng North Tennis Association and is in good standing. “
Some of the results were as follows in the Platinum section semi-final results Tshepang Chaane beat Eric Matjiane 6/1 6/1 to set up the finals with Tshepang Maisela, he then went on to clinch the challenge by a convincing victory of 6/4 7/5. Maisela proved to be a force to be reckoned with, giving his coach a run for his title. It was not an easy victory for Chaane, after their mouth-watering clash.
Tshegofatso beat Onkagile Sefolo 6/2 6/4 to set the finals with Koketso Lephotho. Although Koketso lost to Tshegofatso, he has proven to be a rough diamond ready to be polished.
Koketso Lephotho overwhelmed another rising star, Naledi Ntlatleng in the semi finals.
