Rwanda’s only representative at the 31st ITF/CAT African Junior Championships, Mele Bizimana was knocked out of the tournament’s second round on Wednesday. Having gotten a bye in the first round, the 15-year-old fell in straight sets (6-4/6-4) to Kenya’s Dennis Ochieng. The promising youngster, who turns 16 in November will now have to wait until next year before making a move improved comeback in the annual competition that has three competitive categories; U-14, U-16 and U-18. In the boy’s U-18 event, 2nd seed Safwat Mohamed (Egypt), 4th seed Ndimande Mbonisi (Zimbabwe) and 7th seed Duncan Mugabe (Uganda) all had to battle through tough three set matches to progress to the quarter finals played yesterday. While in the girls’ U-16 category, Burundi’s Anne Sophie Rufyikiri was the only seeded player to fail to reach the last eight following a 6-4/6-4 defeat to Tunisia’s Sonia Daggou. With most of the North Africans having now acclimatized to the high altitude conditions of Gaborone, they should be a handful for the South Africans who have dominated the championship in recent years. The tournament which is being held in Gaborone, Botswana will wind up tomorrow with a final in the three categories.Ends
