FOUR semi-professional tennis players will represent Rwanda at the upcoming Davis Cup Africa Zone Group III Championship. The annual men’s international competition will serve off on Monday, June 18 and run through June 23 in Nairobi, Kenya. Draws of the tournament will be revealed on Sunday (tomorrow) after a technical meeting. The Rwandan quartet that departs Kigali tonight aboard RwandAir, includes; debutant Ernest Habiyambere, on-form Hamisi Gatete, Etienne Niyigena and team captain Oliver Havugirmana. While talking to Saturday Sport yesterday, Niyigena who is making his second appearance in the regional showpiece, said that the four players are in great mood and better shape compared to last year before adding that “the target is to do better than we did last year in Egypt.” Last year, all the four Rwandans were eliminated from the first round without winning a single game while in doubles category, one pair was knocked out from the first round while another one was sent packing in the second round. Rwanda finished in the 7th position out of eight countries in the contest. According to the format of the competition, the winner of Pool A will meet the runner-up of Pool B, while the runner-up of Pool A will face the winner of Pool B to determine which two nations to be promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group XI – effective 2019. Kenya is hosting the Davis Cup for the first time since 2002 in Mombasa. The week-long tournament is set to attract players from nine countries; Benin, Cameroon, Mozambique, Rwanda, Namibia, Nigeria, Algeria, Uganda and the hosts Kenya. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
