13 Jun 2024

 Preparations to host the Botswana Open Tennis Championships to be held at Gaborone’s National Tennis Centre from June 28-July 1 are going well.

Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) vice president–technical, Nonofo Othusitse said the facility was currently undergoing renovations, with four courts being resurfaced.

He reminded the public that as the name depicted, the Botswana Open was an open tournament, as such registration was open to all players from any part of the world.

He said the association had particularly invited players from Southern Africa countries, amongst them Mozambique, Malawi, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, eSwatini, Namibia and South Africa in line with its plan to grow the tournament to an international standard through this ITF-rated tournament.

Othusitse said top players including those in the Davis cup team were expected to compete, given that they would use the tournament as part of their preparation.

Spectators can look out for such players as US-based Tsholofelo Tsiang, Batsomi Marobela and defending champion, Denzel Seetso.  Local players scheduled to compete are; Mark Nawa, Esi Molefe and Seabo Saleshando.

In the women category, one can expect the defending champion, Chelsea Chakanyuka and Kelebogile Monnayoo.

Furthermore, Othusitse said the association would engage local officials, adding that since the Botswana Open Championship was an international tournament, players would attain ITF ranking points.  Talking about the event’s the sponsorship, Othusitse said the association had reached out to a number of businesses in the telecommunications, insurance, banking and mining sectors to partner with in hosting the event.

“At the moment we have not received any offers for partnerships or sponsorship, but we continue to engage with different stakeholders. We are therefore calling on interested individuals and businesses to come on board and support the event. The BTA is pursuing different platforms to market the event such as social and regular media,” he said. ENDS