Zimbabwe: Kuzivaishe Chapepa made the nation proud by winning Gold in the Under-14 Girls Individual Event at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) Southern Africa Zonal Junior Individual and Teams Championships in Namibia.
Kuzivaishe is now ranked as number one in Africa based on the Confederation of African Tennis Ranking and soar the Zimbabwean flag high. The tennis player has shown exceptional skills and teamwork that have earned her victory and a prestigious spot in the forthcoming World Junior Championships.
The tennis team of Zimbabwe, comprising Kuzivaishe Chapepa, Rutendo Tom and Akeelah Khanye, bagged gold in the girls’ Under-14 team event, overcoming South Africa with a 3-6, 6-1, 10-7 scoreline.
Chapepa is ranked second in the CAT 14 and Under circuit and Khanye now tops the regional rankings. Both the players demonstrated exceptional performance in the matches played.
Notably, it is a significant win and follows Chapepa’s previous gold medal in the singles finals, where she outperformed South African Jordan Edwards with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. The victories are a testament to the exceptional talent and hard work of the young athletes.
As per the sources, CAT released the classification list in which the player from Bulawayo Chapepa has earned 1825 points and leads the list of 157 players.
Another Zimbabwean player who is mentioned in the top 10 list is Emmly George, who is at position six with 1085 points, and Akeelah Khanye from Bulawayo, who is placed 12th with 646 points.
Another player, Mufaro Ruwanza, placed at position 36 with 194 points, and Rutendo Tom was placed at 44th with 170 points.
Considering the achievement, Tennis Zimbabwe issued an official statement on various social media platforms and said that Chapepa is a star in the making.
The statement added, “Congratulations to Kuzivaishe Chapepa, who won gold in the Under-14 Girls Individual Event at the ITF/CAT Southern Africa Zonal Championships that were hosted in Namibia. Kuzivaishe is now ranked number one in Africa based on the Confederation of African Tennis ranking. Superstar in the making.”
Chapepa’s father – Fradreck, also reacted to her performance and said that his daughter had worked hard to attain the status.
He said, “She has a bright future ahead. There were days on end when she would just concentrate on her training. She worked hard at it and it is paying off.”
Chapepa’s father also stated, “What we wish as her parents is for her to scale dizzy heights and go on to play professional tennis and continue flying the country’s flag high. I encourage her to aim higher. This is not the end, more is yet to come.”
The father also praised Tennis Zimbabwe and the Sport and Recreation Commission, “We say thank you to the Sport and Recreation Commission and Tennis Zimbabwe for the support.”
The young ace player Kuzivaishe Chapepa was trained under Curro Hazeldean Academy in South Africa during school holidays, while locally, she was trained under Thesly Mufunda’s Global Athlete Performance Sports.
The tennis coach based in Bulawayo, Mufunda, was overjoyed at the winning news and reacted, “As Global Athlete Performance Sports, we are proud of Kuzivaishe. Indeed, she is a rising star. Her achievement is deserved. She is a hard worker.”