Tidimane snatches Gaborone Senior Open Championships

Tshepo Kehimile
VICTORIOUS: Tidimane

Gaborone Senior Open Tennis Championships winner, Innocent Tidimane, says while his victory over his compatriot, Lefa Sibanda, came as something of a surprise, he believes his mental strength carried him all the way to glory.

Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) held a galore of tennis matches which kick-started this past Friday.

The tourney saw some of the most prolific tennis players such as Thato Holmes, Leungo Monnayoo, Thabiso Mabaka, Thato Madikwe competing in the tightly contested tennis championship.

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In a brief interview with Voice Sport on Monday, the 22-year-old Tidimane said he knew Sibanda was always going to be a tough competitor as they train together on a daily basis. “Sibanda is one of the most difficult opponents one can come across, and winning against him is a massive achievement as he has the ability to do anything he wants with the ball. He controlled the match from the onset as he took the first set but I capitalised on his lapse of concentration and took the second and last set which was a tiebreaker to beat him,” he said.

Quizzed about his ambition for the remainder of the year, Tidimane said his plan is to try and survive this year so that he finishes the year on a strong footing. “It was really a tough year for most of us but I believe I am going to come-back even stronger next year,” he said.

In other results, in the women’s category, Leungo Monnayoo defeated Chelsea Chakanyuka while in women’s doubles Leungo Monnayoo and Phatsimo Ruele were humbled by Kelebogile Monnayoo and Chelsea Chakanyuka.

In the men’s doubles, Best Ndebele and Holmes were victorious against Tidimane and Mabaka respectively.

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