Habiyambere tipped to shine in ITF East African junior championships

The Rwanda Tennis Federation (RTF) has backed starlet Ernest Habiyambere to shine at this year’s ITF/CAT East African U-16 junior championships to be staged from January 11 to 18 in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

Monday, January 06, 2014
Rwanda's top rising star Ernest Habiyambere has spent the last seven month in Morocco. Times Sport / File.

The Rwanda Tennis Federation (RTF) has backed starlet Ernest Habiyambere to shine at this year’s ITF/CAT East African U-16 junior championships to be staged from January 11 to 18 in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.Fourteen-year old Habiyambere, who has been undergoing training at International Tennis Federation High Performance Training Centre in Morocco, is expected in Kigali on Tuesday before heading to Tanzania on Wednesday with his teammates, according to RTF technical director Fidele Kamanzi Bayama.Rwanda will be represented by eight youngsters (five boys and three girls) divided in three teams; Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16."With the skills he has acquired during his seven-month spell in Morocco, we expect him to do well in the championships and probably win the Under-16 category; he is a confident young man,” Bayama said of Habiyambere.Habiyambere, alongside David Uwimana, will compete in the boys’ Under-16 category, while Bryan Ndahiro and Fabrice Tuyishime will compete in boys’ under-14 class, with Bertin Karenzi in boys’ under-12 category.Oliva Tuyisenge and Alliete Mutesi are in the girls’ under-16 team, while Chantal Mutuyimana will vie for the girls’ under-14 title.The tournament is expected to attract players from 11 African countries, namely; hosts Tanzania, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Sudan, Eritrea and Rwanda.