Habiyambere beats Havugimana to lift inaugural tennis Genocide

Local tennis icon Dieudonne Habiyambere beat arch rival Olivier Havugimana in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 to claim the inaugural tennis Genocide Memorial tournament on Sunday at Amahoro stadium tennis courts. The 32-year-old Habiyambere, who is believed to be number one on local scene after the passing of former top seed Jean Claude Gasigwa earlier this year, saw off Hamiss Gatete in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-finals to reach the final. He had also beaten Janvier Mugwaneza 6-3, 6-0 earlier in the quarter-finals. Talking to in a post-match interview on Sunday, champion Habiyambere admitted how tough the match was but said he was ready for the tournament from the beginning and insisted he deserved the crown. The 21-year-old Havugimana brushed aside Mathieu Uwizeyimana in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in Saturday’s semi-finals and youngster Ernest Habiyambere 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the round of eight on Thursday respectively. The six-day long competitions that ran from June 9 - 14 included four categories namely Professional categories (men and women), youth (boys and girls) and Amateurs (men) categories. In the women’s professional competition, Burundi’s Mariam Mujawamariya won in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Rwanda’s top seed Megame Ingabire to claim the title. In the Amateurs men’s singles, Fidele Kamanzi beat former Rwanda Foot Federation (FERWAFA) boss Major General Jean-Bosco Kazura in two sets 6-3, 6-4 to win the tourney while in the doubles category, Valens Habimana partnering with Jean Paul Musoni beat the pair of Viateur Kabirigi and Fabien Twagiramungu in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to bag the title. In the youth categories, Chantal Mutuyimana won the girls’ U-16 tourney while Eulade Ishimwe grabbed the boys’ U-12 crown.

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Habiyambere beats Havugimana to lift inaugural tennis Genocide