Sports

KAMPALA – Five Rwanda players made it to the second round as the Uganda Open tennis tournament got under way in Kampala on Monday at the Lugogo Tennis Club.

Top seed Jean Claude Gasigwa, also Rwanda’s top player, made little work of Uganda’s Hassan Sas, beating him 6-1, 6-1, while David Habiyambere recorded a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Uganda’s Dennis Ofuyuru.

Mike Uwizeyimana, Mubarak Hayarimana and Olivier Nkunda were the other Rwanda players who advanced to the next stage.

Gasigwa who won the title in 2008 said although he thinks the event will be so tough, he hopes that he can win a second title in Kampala. “I had come to beat the defending champion Duncan Mugabe, but I am unhappy to hear he is in the US,” said Gasigwa.

Uganda’s top tennis players Herbert Buyinza and David Oringa also made it with ease in the event which has brought together players from Kenya, Tanzania and hosts Uganda.

Buyinza, who represented Uganda at the 2011 All Africa Games in Mozambique and is ranked third in the event, gave Kenya’s Charles Gitaru no chance, winning 6-0, 6-0 in a game that lasted only 30 minutes, while Oringa dispatched veteran James Bayego 6-2, 6-1.

The tournament which has attracted over 100 players from the region gets into the second round on Tuesday, although the men’s doubles and women’s singles are also expected to start the same day.

The pair of Nkunda/Habyyambere from Rwanda have been ranked top, while Cedric Babu and Rwanda’s Gasigwa are ranked second.