New achievers at KIA Pro-Tennis Academy Tennis Series

Spectators and participants alike where entertained at a recent tournament in the KIA PTA Tennis Series whose aim is to identify top talents among the local players by eliminating borders of age while matching players of equal skill level.
It was a close battle in the advance group as Andre Smit took the podium with 40 points, followed by Erik Imbuzzeiro and Godwin Husselman both with 34 points initially. In the head-to-head match for the second position Erik managed to beat Godwin in a close match: 8-7 (7-5).
The 4th spot went to one of Namibia’s former top junior players, Veja Hinda who is back in action. With a lot of tennis talent in the family, Veja’s younger brother Guvi Hinda was king of the intermediate group with Oliver Diggle second, and a new player from Otjiwarongo, Dario Norbeb, taking the bronze medal.
In the beginners group, Delvin Losper won the gold with Zita Rittmann and Johan Britz (also from Otjiwarongo) both with 26 points battling for the silver medal. Once again it came down to a head-to-head match with Zita succeeding 8-5 against Johan.
In midi court, Enricco De Azevedo was the victor followed by Marnus Meyer and Carolina Machado in second and third places respectively .
“Enricco De Azevedo is the perfect example of perseverance – he worked his way through the competitive phases from mini tennis ranks to the top of the midi court ranks and walked away as the midi court champion,” said Pro Tennis Academy Head Coach and Director, Elizma Nortje.
The mini category in the U/10 age group was led by Lynton Losper with Andrea Rakow claiming silver and Zander Coetzee in third. In the U/8 Munel Meyer was the winner with 100 points followed by Micca De Azevedo with 96 and Adam Diggle with 91 points.
“This category is expanding with each tournament and proved to be very valuable in introducing the younger players to tennis in a fun but competitive and interactive way,” commented Nortje.
Andre Smit took over the No1 spot on the Kia Tennis Ranking from Michiel van Zyl, with Oliver Diggle moving up into second place.
Total prize money of N$20 000 will be awarded at the end of the year to the top three  players per gender in the overall ranking, as well as to three players that showed the greatest improvement in the ranking and advancement in skill level throughout the year. The next tournament in the KIA PTA Tennis Series, co sponsored by Wimpy is taking place this coming Friday and Saturday at the SKW Tennis courts.