The East African Tennis community remains in shock after Rwanda’s number one tennis player Jean Claude Gasigwa died yesterday during a training session at Cercle Sportif de Kigali in Kiyovu.

The 31-year-old Gasigwa was jogging on the football pitch where he did a two-hour session before collapsing and passing away, according to his coach and onlookers who found his body about an hour later.

"He came to Cercle Sportif de Kigali in the morning and we talked about his workout and he talked to the young players, as he always did on a daily basis, he gave them advice about tennis and encouraged them,” narrated Silver Rutikanga, his personal coach.

"He started jogging at 8:00am and his schedule was two hours. Later, at 11am some of the players called me and told me that Gasigwa was found lying on the ground and a look at him closely, indicated that he had passed away. We immediately called Police and his body was taken to the Police hospital in Kacyiru.”

"We are in utter shock. I talked to him this morning and for sure he has not been sick. It is a very big loss to us. He was a great person, a good friend, a servant of this nation who dedicated his life to representing Rwanda.”

Rwanda Tennis Federation Chairman Kassim Ntageruka described the death as sad and shocking. "It is really sad and shocking that Jean Claude Gasigwa has died. He was a very good friend of mine and has been Rwanda’s number one player for a long time.”

"I played doubles with him last month at the Gisenyi Open and we have been very close friends.

Honestly, this is unbelievable because over the past few days, we were chatting on whatsapp and he was telling me his plans for 2015 and how he needed a manager because his schedule was going to be tough,” reminisced Ntageruka.

Gasigwa’s biggest archrival also Uganda’s number one tennis player, Duncan Mugabe, who faced him in some of the toughest and most entertaining tennis matches in the East African region said, "You will be dearly missed.”

Uganda Lawn Tennis Association (ULTA) president Cedric Babu bemoaned, "He was my opponent, my doubles partner, a great champion but above all my friend and younger brother.

We shared many good times across the world at tournaments, my heartbreaks on hearing this news. I am devastated.”

Over the past 17 years, Gasigwa has won every tournament in Rwanda, bagged the Tanzania Open, Kenya Open and Uganda Open once each and seven ITF Money Circuits in Rwanda and Burundi.

He also represented Rwanda at the All Africa Games in Algeria (2007) and Mozambique (2011) and according to Ntageruka, he was looking forward to a successful 2015.

Who is Gasigwa?

Jean Claude Gasigwa was born on July 8, 1983 to Azarias Karangwa and Catherine Mukagatare in Gikondo, Kicukiro District, Kigali. He came from a family of five children but unfortunately all his siblings and parents have since passed on. He was the only one still alive from his family.

His parents, a brother and two sisters were killed during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis. His sister who survived the Genocide also passed away in 2011 in a car accident.

Gasigwa once said, "Life is hard and at times tasteless; I lost my family when I needed them most. I’ll always do everything to honor and make them proud wherever they are.”

Gasigwa attended Gikondo primary school before switching to ETEL Gikondo for secondary school. After finishing senior one, he dropped out of school to focus on his tennis career which has since been his way of life.

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