Thirty-two players are set to tussle it out today as the qualifying phase for the main draw of this year’s ITF Men’s Futures tournament gets underway. The main event unfolds on Monday at Nyarutarama and Novotel courts, the same venues that hosts today and tomorrow’s qualifiers. With only eight slots to contend for, the two-day qualification campaign is expected to get the best out of the players who have come from all over the world; USA, Russia, Ukraine, India, Germany, South Africa, Poland, Egypt and Morocco. Rwanda has eight players lined up for the qualification phase with major hope laying in one Olivier Nkunda. Apart from Jean Paul Nshimiyimana and Dieudonne Habiyambere, Nkunda is only the third local player who got past the qualification phase last year and Thierry Ntwali believes the youngster can do the same this year. “Nkunda has been there and done it. He qualified during last year’s competition which puts him in a superior position than some players who are only getting involved in the competition for the first time,” Rwanda Tennis Federation’s technical director Ntwali said. The government through the Ministry of Sports is the main sponsors after sinking over Frw8 millions into the tournament.Other sponsors however include ITF, Heineken, Sulfo Rwanda and Bank de Kigali (BK). “We are grateful to the government and our longtime partners Heineken for their contribution. We are also grateful to Sulfo Rwanda and BK for their contributions to this year’s tournament,” Ntwali continued. The five-day tournament has $15,000 worth of prize money with the overall winner expected to walk with $1500. Ends
