{"id":40417,"date":"2020-11-26T00:02:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T22:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/?p=40417"},"modified":"2020-11-26T00:02:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T22:02:43","slug":"kzn-south-coast-set-to-host-national-seniors-tennis-championship-in-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/tennis\/kzn-south-coast-set-to-host-national-seniors-tennis-championship-in-december\/","title":{"rendered":"KZN South Coast set to host national seniors\u2019 tennis championship in December"},"content":{"rendered":"

Showcasing itself as a top sporting destination, the KZN South Coast has been chosen as the venue for this year\u2019s local TSA (Tennis South Africa) Seniors Tour, a national tennis contest, open for and hopefully drawing international participants 30 years and older, taking place from Thursday, 10 to Sunday, 13 December. The tour – which is a qualifier for the World Championships \u2013 is being hosted by Tennis South Africa (TSA), KZN Tennis, Ugu Tennis Association (UTA) at Umtentweni, Uvongo, Douglas Mitchell, and Southbroom tennis clubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are so delighted to be one of the locations hosting this year\u2019s prestigious National Seniors Tour,\u201d said CEO of Ugu South Coast Tourism (USCT), Phelisa Mangcu. \u201cThe KZN South Coast\u2019s many top-quality sporting facilities form part of our destination offerings, and we are excited to attract some national players – whom have already entered – and, hopefully, some international players.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWith so many sports\u2019 competitions either postponed or cancelled in 2020, we anticipate many visitors will take advantage of the opportunity to support our local tennis stars at the event. There is free entry for all spectators, and all relevant Covid-19 protocols will be in place to ensure the safety of all attendees and participants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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The ITF (International Tennis Federation) Seniors Tour has 27\u00a0500 registered players from 70 nations, competing in 502 tournaments worldwide and culminating in the annual World Championships. To qualify for one\u2019s country, there is a ranking system with participants earning points for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, as well as points for representing one\u2019s province. The tour caters to three age categories:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00b7 Young Seniors (35-45+);<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Seniors (50-60+); and<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Super Seniors (65-85+).<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cUGU South Coast and Tennis South Africa (TSA) are promoting this tournament across all 14 \u2018tennis provinces\u2019 in South Africa, in an effort to grow the sport,\u201d explained Ian Ackerman, president of UGU Tennis Association. \u201cThere are already about 18 000 senior players in the country, so we stand a good chance when competing internationally.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ackerman said entries are currently being registered with TSA with hope that some top contestants will make an appearance. Previous local players who\u2019ve represented their country in the ITF Seniors Tour include Ralph Burles, Gules Salottolo, Raj Naganna, Sharon van der Schyff, Martyn Nagtegaal, Hannelie Nagtegaal, Zelda Smook, as well as Ackerman himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Another valuable aspect forming part of the competition are the development programmes whereby children from previously disadvantaged communities are invited to the four tennis clubs – Umtentweni, Douglas Mitchell, Uvongo and Southbroom. Here they are given the opportunity to learn tennis directly from professional coaches, with all relevant kit and equipment provided at the clubs\u2019 cost.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is a really great opportunity for locals and visitors to witness the tennis talent within South Africa, and there are also entries available for first-time seniors looking to compete,\u201d said Ackerman.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Entries<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

First-time seniors\u2019 tournament players cost is R250 with entry deadline on Thursday, 26 November. To enter, contact Sharon van der Schyff at seniors@tennissa.co.za<\/a> or call 083\u00a0263 1398.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sponsorship<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone wanting to come on board as a sponsor for the event management costs and prizes can contact Ian Ackerman on 072 297 7878 or email ianrackerman@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Outside of the ITF Seniors Tour, The KZN South Coast has hosted several top sports\u2019 events in the past, including:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00b7 South Coast MTB Series<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 KAP sani2c<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Joberg2c<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Senior Women\u2019s Golf Nationals<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>To find out more about the KZN South Coast, simply download the free \u2018Explore KZN South Coast\u2019 app or visit www.visitkznsouthcoast.co.za<\/a>. You can also follow the KZN South Coast on social media – \u2018South Coast Tourism\u2019 on Facebook and YouTube, or @infosouthcoast on Twitter and Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Showcasing itself as a top sporting destination, the KZN South Coast has been chosen as the venue for this year\u2019s local TSA (Tennis South Africa) Seniors Tour, a national tennis contest, open for and hopefully drawing international participants 30 years and older, taking place from Thursday, 10 to Sunday, 13 December. The tour – which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[248],"tags":[2799,8538,8543,4415,8540,8539,8541,8542,8544,8545],"class_list":["post-40417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-kzn","tag-kzn-south-coast","tag-kzn-tennis","tag-olivia-jones-communications","tag-seniors-tennis-championship","tag-south-coast","tag-tennis-south-africa","tag-tsa","tag-ugu-tennis-association","tag-uta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}