TOP seed Jean Claude Gasigwa has started preparation for the upcoming Simba Open international tennis tournament expected to take off at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club courts from September 11.The veteran tennis player told Times Sport yesterday, “I have started preparations for the tournament. I have daily training sessions at Cercle Sportif and Nyarutarama tennis courts.”“Everything is in top gear for the event. I hope to be in good shape before the event starts next month. I want to retain this year’s event honours,” added Gasigwa.Last year, Gasigwa beat Burundi’s Guy Iradukunda in three sets 6-3 1-6 8-6 to win the tournament.However, Gasigwa could not maintain his form when he paired with Olivier Nkunda in the doubles’ category. The pair lost the doubles title to Iradukunda and Ntwali Ket 3-6 6-3 4-6.That was Gasigwa’s second victory in a space of two years. In 2009, he won the Simba Cement open edition before losing the 2010 to Ugandan rival Duncan Mugabe.The Tanzania Tennis Association (TTA) Secretary General Inger Njau has confirmed the event has attracted many international players most of them having beaten the confirmation deadline set at September 10. Simba Cement Company will bankroll the event for the seventh year running. Driving the agenda for success in the 2012 edition of this prestigiously money spinning event is local top tennis cop Omary Abdallah and former back-hand whiz Mkunde Idd. Both players are determined to prove pundits wrong by snatching the staggering USD 1000 top prize for the first time in five consecutive tennis seasons.The five passed years of Simba Cement International Tennis event have seen visiting prize fighters conquer the courts at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club, taking away the game and the prize money from their hosts. This time round, and as the local tennis body touts for six-in-one events that would include social tennis for veterans as well as networking mixed doubles, all attention will be on local performance in an event that is known to invite top athletes from across the world into four days of prize money tennis.
