ETIENNE NIYIGENA and Meghan Ingabire on Sunday, December 5, beat Bertin Karenzi and Joselyn Umulisa respectively to be crowned champions of the 2021 Cogebanque Tennis Open tournament. Organised in partnership with Cercle Sportif de Kigali, the annual tennis tournament attracted over 150 players from all tennis clubs and 2 regional clubs from Goma and Bujumbura, with an aim to leverage the sport in Rwanda. In its 5th edition which kicked off on November 28 at Cercle sportif de Kigali’s Tennis courts, participants were divided into five categories from all clubs in the country namely CSK tennis club, Nyarutarama tennis club, APR tennis club, Remera tennis club, Kanombe tennis club, Butare tennis club, Musanze tennis club, Cimerwa tennis club. The tournament also attracted participants from regional teams namely Goma tennis club from Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundian team Entente sportive de Bujumbura respectively. The teams included categories of mixed doubles (Amateur/professional), men professionals, lady professionals as well as men and lady juniors and players in wheelchairs category. In women’s professionals’ category, a dominant Ingabire won the final with a comfortably 2-0 (6-1, 6-1) victory over Umulisa who was obviously past her best. Niyigena proved too tough for Karenzi after defeating him 2-0 (6-4, 6-2) in a tense match that attracted a big number of tennis lovers who were watching from the court’s stands. After winning the tournament, Niyigena paid tribute to his opponent for giving him stern test. “I could have lost the game had I not been focused. I knew I would face a tough opponent but I also won the tournament because I took my time to prepare for the game,” Niyigena told Times Sport. Guillaume Habarugira, the Chief Executive Officer of Cogebanque said the bank organized the tournament as part of its commitment to promote healthy living by supporting Tennis and sport in general. “This tournament played a vital role to improve the skills of both professionals and amateurs’ tennis players, and strengthened as well the relationship between Cogebanque and participants of this tournament. We thank Cercle Sportif de Kigali for this important partnership and we look forward to future collaborations,” Habarugira said. While encouraging tennis players to use Cogebanque services, Antoine Iyamuremye, said that the bank’s main objective to sponsor the tournament is to ensure a healthy tennis community. “We are committed to sponsor this tournament to not ensure these players remain healthy but to also contribute in keeping the tennis community more productive, then we can have healthy tennis players working with us,” he said. Meghan Ingabire.
