Botswana Squash Rackets Association (BSRA) Junior National team is undergoing intensive training ahead of the Asian Junior Super Series platinum events sanctioned by Asian Squash Federation (ASF).
The local players are expected to compete in two championships, the Kuala Lumpur Junior Open scheduled for the 5th to the 10th December in Malaysia followed by Singapore Junior Open slated for the 12th to the 16th December this year.
Four athletes, Peo Gosalamang, Neo Phatsima, Angel Otshabeng and Leungo Katse will represent the country. They will be headed by Coach Koketso Ntshebe and Team Manager Charmaine Khupe.
The local team, which is scheduled to leave the country for the competition on the 3rd December 2017, will compete against Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea, Egypt, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore at the tournaments.
Boasting of two experienced junior team players and two rookies, Team Botswana will compete in the Under 13 (U13) and Under 15 (U15) Categories.
The team’s experienced players are Katse and Otshabeng, while Gosalamang and Phatsima are the two debutants.
Katse, who holds 37 European rankings, will be the sole player in the U15 while Otshabeng, who currently has 21 European rankings, will be on the U13 together with Gosalamang and Phatsima. All players will participate in individual events in both tournaments.
In an interview BSRA Junior National Team Coach Koketso Ntshebe said they have finalized their national team list and are ready to compete as they follow a 90 days build up program.
He said they do not have a non committed time as players are always engaged in regional and local tournaments as part of the preparations for the internationals. He however said that this is the team’s first Asian Junior Super Series to take part in.
Regarding the outcomes of the competition Ntshebe said “The plan is to have athletes who can compete for the podium in 2022 at the commonwealth games and beyond and these athletes have been earmarked for such a purpose, benefits never change it will always remain the same for athletes because high level competition only brings maturity and experience to mention a few things besides your international ranking.”
