08 Jan 2026

Ntungamili Raguin has etched his name into Botswana’s sporting history books after becoming the first Motswana tennis player to qualify for the Australian Open Junior Championships qualifiers. 

The prestigious qualifiers will be held from January 12 to 15 at Melbourne Park in Australia. Ntungamili earned his spot following an impressive run on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior circuit. 

He made his intentions clear last year by winning the J100 Nairobi tournament in Kenya, as well as the J60 and J100 tournaments hosted in Botswana. 

His strong performances enabled him to break into the ITF World Junior Top 100, qualifying him for the Australian Open junior qualifiers. According to the latest ITF rankings released on Monday, Ntungamili is ranked 93rd in the world with 519 points, after winning five World Junior singles titles in 2025. 

Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president Oaitse Thipe said the achievement was historic, noting that Botswana had never before had a junior player compete at the Australian Open. 

Thipe said they are extremely happy because this is history in the making. With Ntugamili’s hard work, resilience and focus, they are confident he would produce positive results. 

He also highlighted progress in wheelchair tennis, revealing that Botswana’s wheelchair tennis player Omphile Botlhasitse is currently ranked number one in Africa in the ITF Junior rankings and 14th in the world in the girls’ category. 

“She needs to compete in about nine more tournaments to push for a Top 10 world ranking, which would qualify her for Grand Slam events such as the Junior Australian Open next year,” he said. 

However, Thipe noted that wheelchair tennis was an expensive sport due to specialised equipment and travel requirements.  He therefore appealed for sponsorship and support to help Botlhasitse realise her dreams. BOPA