The national youthful team returned home yesterday from a week-long International Tennis Federation U-14 East Africa tennis circuit held in Nairobi, Kenya.

The six-man team of Yejala Umumararungu, Hakim Ntwali, Olivier Havugimana, Prince Ishimwe, Pappy Umwizerwa and coach Lucian Hamisi returned home aboard Regional Bus Services.

In the first leg, Rwanda’s top seeds, Umumararungu [seeded 11] and Ishimwe [seeded 13] are the only seeds who reached the quarter-final stage last week while the performance from rest left so much to be desired.

Rwanda’s chances of performing better were slim in the second leg as all national seeds were ejected from the tournament in the preliminary stages.Ethiopian Semira Michael defeated Meron Getu 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the girls’ under-14 on Wednesday.

Rwandan players found the going tough during the six day tournament sponsored by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The tournament organized under the auspices of ITF attracted players from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Libya, Sudan, Seychelles, Eritrea, Djibouti and Rwanda.

Ends