Top seeds through to semis

RESULTS went according to rankings in the quarterfinals of the ITF South and Central African U/18 Junior tennis championships at the National Tennis Stadium yesterday, as the top seeds all advanced to the semi-finals.

It is the second successive ITF African junior tennis tournament to be hosted by the Namibia Tennis Association, following last week’s opening tournament in Windhoek. In the boys’ singles competition the top-seeded Valdik Munshaw of India was pushed all the way before beating the fifth-seeded Kyle Rowe of South Africa 6-4, 7-5. Munshaw will now meet the third-seeded Hernus Pieters of South Africa, who beat the eighth-seeded Pieter Becker 6-3, 7-5. The twelfth-seeded Marcel Janse van Vuuren of South Africa beat the 13th-seeded Hassan Ndayishimiye of Burundi 6-4, 6-1, and will now meet the second-seeded Jarryd Botha of South Africa, who beat Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe 6-3, 6-1. In the girls’ quarterfinals, the top-seeded Niriandra Rasolomalala of Madagascar beat the unseeded Welma Luus of South Africa 6-3, 6-3 and will now meet the third-seeded Ann Sophie Rufyikiri of Burundi, who beat the fifth-seeded Sarah Ive of South Africa 6-4, 6-2. The fourth-seeded Natasha Fourouclas of South Africa, who won the girls’ singles title at last week’s tournament, beat the unseeded Verushka van Wyk of South Africa 6-1, 6-4 to progress to the semi-finals. She will now meet the second-seeded Zarah Razafimanatratra of Madagascar, who beat the eighth-seeded Tracy Plant of South Africa 6-1, 6-1. NAMIBIAN PLAYERS STRUGGLE Namibian players have failed to make an impact at the tournament, with most being eliminated in the first round. In the girls’ singles competition all of Namibia’s four participants were eliminated in the first round. Kerstin Gressmann lost 6-2, 6-3 to Welma Luus of South Africa, Annalien Davin lost 6-4, 6-1 to Genevieve Luksich of South Africa, Teri Olivier lost 6-1, 6-4 to Jessica Laing of South Africa and Carita Moolman lost 6-3, 7-5 to Adri Lochner of South Africa. In the boys’ singles competition, Jean Erasmus was Namibia’s most successful participant. Erasmus, who was seeded seventh for the tournament, won his opening two matches to reach the quarterfinals where he lost 7-5, 6-4 to the 12th- seeded Marcel van Vuuren of South Africa. Jonathan Edmunds reached the second round where he lost 6-1, 6-2 to the top-seeded Valdik Munshaw of India.Namibia’s other four boys, Thomas Geier, Schalk Bezuidenhout, Tuki Jacobs and Johan Jansen van Vuuren, were all eliminated in the first round. The winner of last week’s boys’ singles tournament, Sebastian Richter of Germany, was beaten 6-4, 7-6 by Kyle Rowe of South Africa in the third round. The semi-finals are due to start at 08h30 at the National Tennis Stadium in Olympia this morning.- www.namibiasport.com.na