Oduke leads Uganda
Amidst Greatness. Uganda tennis teams pose with legendary coach Oduke (C). PHOTO | UTA MEDIA
What you need to know:
- The additional motivation for the players will be that there are individual spots to be grabbed in the 14 & Under category to the AJC on clay court later this year.
Uganda find themselves in a peculiar situation. The two national boys and girls 14 & Under and 16 & Under will each be the hunted away from home in Kigali at the International Tennis Federation (ITF)/Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) East African Junior Teams Championships serving off today.
Baying for blood
The action at the Ecology Club, Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC) in Kicukiro District will fully test Uganda’s mettle with the other nations in the fray baying for blood.
Reason? Uganda’s 12 & Under Boys dominated last week’s event enroute to booking a ticket to this year’s Africa Junior Teams Championships in Morocco as their girls team coached by Patrick Luyinda made do with bronze medals.
The pressure will be very evident but celebrated veteran coach John Oduke says the teenagers are prepared for what is to come. “We are very much concerned about youth tennis,” said Oduke, who won a record 12 Uganda Tennis Open titles.
“Three years ago, we started this programmed and are happy that we do have some success stories today. Uganda was previously known as a tennis powerhouse in the region and the youngsters are showing exactly that after just grasping the basics. We are here (Kigali) to fight to maintain that supremacy in the region.”
No pleasantries
Oduke and his 12-strong team arrived in Kigali yesterday morning and after a day’s acclimatisation will be in the fray this morning after the technical meeting that decides the draws.
But Oduke and Odockcen will not have time for pleasantries as they reunite with players that are graduates from the different national age-group teams as the fight for berths to the Africa Junior Championships - one team per category to make it four from East Africa – starts.
The additional motivation for the players will be that there are individual spots to be grabbed in the 14 & Under category to the AJC on clay court later this year.
