Four youngsters of the Botswana Squash Racquet Association (BSRA) are currently on a training camp getting ready for the Scottish and British Junior Open billed for the United Kingdom (UK) at the end of the year.
The tournament pits all top-seed junior players who have done well in their domestic leagues and tournaments in the Under-20 category.
BSRA sports development officer Koketso Ntshebe said the team was under the tutelage of local squash coaches.
“We selected all the best squash players and coaches from different centres and put them in one place to monitor and asses them as we could not organise any regional or international friendlies due to financial constraints. The team will break on December 19 Christmas and report back for training on the 27th for final preparations and I believe they will be ready to compete,” he said.
The country’s top seed, Theo Pelonomi of Gaborone Squash Club, says he is ready for challenge in a more competitive tournament.
“I have been first seed for a while and I don’t usually get stiff competition at home. Now I think it’s time to gauge my standard against the best because locally I am hard to beat,” he said.
He further stated that he had been working on his mental and physical fitness. “It is important to compete in such competitions in a good state of mind and body because that is the requirement for any athlete,” he said.
Ntshebe they had made good progress this year in terms of developing the girl child in the sport which saw them do well in local and regional tournaments.
“We managed to honour all the tournaments in our calendar of events hence our success in terms of development in all regions and centres,” he said
The team leaves for the UK on December 30 and returns on January 6, 2017.
