ZIMBABWE wheelchair tennis ace Nyasha Mharakurwa wants to improve his world ranking position when he takes part in the Gauteng and South Africa Open tournaments next week.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI
Mharakurwa, who represented the country at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, will shrug off the rust at the Gauteng Open in Benoni from April 3-7 before rounding off the busy schedule at the South Africa Open on April 9-13 in Johannesburg.
In an interview from his South Africa base, Mharakurwa said he was hoping to perform better against international stars that are expected to grace the two competitions.
“I have not yet reached my desired fitness level since I started training recently, but I hope I will do well at both tournaments. I know that there will be tough competition since there will be international stars,’’ Mharakurwa said.
He added that he needed to participate in more international events to improve his rankings.
“This will be my chance to improve on my rankings since all the tournaments will be played here. I have been finding the going tough due to lack of sponsorship. My counterparts here in South Africa have sound sponsorship deals, so they have better chances of improving on their rankings and most of them are highly ranked,’’ he said.
The country’s number one, who was named the Sportsperson of the Year with a disability in 2012, has been on a free-fall on the world rankings due to non-participation in international events.
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Currently the South Africa-based tennis ace is on position 86 having fallen 23 places down the ladder.
Mharakurwa will drop further should he continue to be inactive on the international front.
