THE 2016 Rwanda Open Tennis Championship has been moved to September 15-25 at Amahoro stadium courts. The event, which was initially scheduled for August 22-28 will attract tennis stars from all regional countries.

The development was confirmed on Tuesday by Rwanda Tennis Federation (RTF) president Kassim Ntageruka.

The third Rwanda Open has attracted players from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and hosts Rwanda.

"The rescheduling is for the best of the tournament, its quality and competitiveness will be on another level. We are inviting top tennis players from regional countries and some have already confirmed their participation.” Ntageruka told this paper yesterday.

Currently, Rwanda is suspended from participating in any International Tennis Federation (ITF) activities or competitions after failure to pay the annual membership fee. As a result Rwanda cannot be considered for any ITF sanctioned event or any grants or funding for tennis development projects.

With all top local players, both men and women, set to compete in the 10-day long showpiece, Uganda’s top seed Duncan Mugabe is among big names expected in Kigali. The prize money for the winner is reported to be US$1000 (Men) and US$700 in women’s category.

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