Omar Sulle and Mandi Furaji are billed to lead Tanzanian onslaught in the East African Junior Tennis Championship penned to shoot out from January 9 to 17, in Kenyan Capital, Nairobi.
The two players are part of twelve players picked for week-long championship at the Nairobi Club, according to the list unveiled yesterday by Nicholaus Jonas, the national tennis team coach.
Coach Jonas, said the selection of players was based on the individual performance in the various local and international tournaments held in 2015.
The week-long championship that will bring the top junior players from East African region will feature three age-group categories Under- 16, Under-14 as well as Under-12 for boys and girls.
The players in the squad includes; Faith Nnko, Neema Chakindo, Kanuti Alagwa and Rajab Musa who will vie for Under-12 boys and girls titles.
He also named; Esther Nankulanga, Jackline Kayuga, Deogratius Ernest and Yusuph Godwin as the players vying for Under-14 title while Mandi Furaji and Emiliana Tarimo will compete in the Under-14 category.
Also in the squad, according to Jonas, are Omar Sulle and Hassan Yambi. He said he and Salum Mvita are the coaches tasked to train and drill the team for the region’s major tournament.
Tanzania clinched the overall runners up position in this year’s event held in Dar es Salaam. Burundi will go to Nairobi as defending champions.
Burundi won the event after bagging 1,358 points followed by Tanzania with 1,021 points ahead of thirdplaced Kenya who chalked 756 points.
Fourth overall was Rwanda with 671 points, Ethiopia ended fifth with 555 points beating Seychelles who penned 420 points while seventh position was taken by Comoro who managed only 111 points.
The tournament, which is in the calendar of events for International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Confederation of African Tennis (CAT), will feature players from Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania and hosts Kenya.
According to Tennis Kenya administrator Suzanne Odhiambo, the event will double up as a qualifier event for the African Junior Championships set for South Africa in March.
The top six singles players in the 14 and 16 and under categories at the East African Junior Championships will qualify to play in the main event in South Africa.