06 Jun 2021

Ekau Refilwe Youri, a 16-year-old tennis player, who has been training with Barcelona Tennis Academy in Spain since beginning of 2020, continues to fly the national flag high.

In an interview with BOPA, Botswana Tennis Association president, Oaitse Thipe indicated that Youri recently won her second women’s open tennis tournament this year and reached the final of another  tournament.

He explained that she won the first tournament in March, beating a top 40 ranked player in Spain while in mid-March, she reached the finals in another tournament.

He added that at the end of  last month, she won her second tournament.

Thipe highlighted that Youri had represented Botswana at Under 14 and 18 at different International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) tournaments in Gaborone, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Youri, he said would be part of Botswana Team that would play in Lithuania later this month, adding that the player was planning to relocate to the United States of America (USA) to play college tennis in an effort to turn professional.

He said it was a good development to have players  plying their trade abroad as they would inspire young and upcoming players.

He urged youth around the country to join tennis as there were opportunities for scholarships to prestigious schools in the US. ENDS