13 Jan 2014

The Under 12 tennis sensation, Tshegofatso Tsiang has been awarded an academic and sports scholarship at a Pretoria-based High Performance Centre.

This followed her exceptional performance on January 11. She reached the finals of the ITF/CAT Southern African Youth Championship, losing to South African Lara Van da Merwe 4-6, 6-3 and 4-6. She was the only Motswana to have reached the finals while her brother Tsholofelo, was knocked out in the semi-finals.

Speaking at the end of the week-long tournament held at Notwane courts, Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) chairperson, Solly Reikeletseng said his organisation had decided to award her with an elite scholarship which is used to identify and nurture talent.

“This is a commendable effort on the role played by parents in grooming their athlete. I would like to state that the BNSC is committed to top up the scholarship in order to relieve the parents of the financial burden,” he said.

The BNSC chairperson called upon all athletes to work hard in order to take advantage of the opportunity. He further said parents interested in developing their children to elite athletes were welcomed to visit BNSC offices.

Meanwhile, the chairperson also commended the volunteers who assisted in the running of the tournament saying they had gained experience in hosting a large number of people. The tournament, which was divided into Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 boys and girls, attracted participants from other countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, Mauritius, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

It was also used as qualifiers for African Youth Championships to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, in March this year. Meanwhile, another Tsholofelo, won a gold medal in the doubles pairing with South African Khololwam Montsi of South Africa, trouncing them 6-0 and 6-1. ENDS