Uganda’s David Oringa and Renne Kallars from Netherlands are the respective winners of men’s and women’s singles of the 2012 Uganda Open Tennis event that climaxed at the Lugogo Club on Saturday evening.
The 19-year Oringa beat Rwanda’s Mike Uwizeyimana 7-5, 6-4 in a game that lasted close to three hours.
Oringa said after the match that his first victory in senior tennis motivates him to work harder. The youngster who upset the tournament’s top seed from Rwanda, Jean Claude Gasigwa on Wednesday, said he will be traveling to Kenya next week for more training.
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Dutch player Kallars had to dig deep to defeat Kenya’s Caroline Oduor 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the women’s finals. Kallars, who is in Uganda on an Educational research trip, had on Friday humiliated Tanzania’s Athuman Rehema 6-1, 6-1 in the semis. She showed good returns and steady play to give the Kenyan star no chance in the first game, but Oduor fought back steadily to make it 1-1. Kallars, a former player in the Tennis Academy in Netherlands showed more nerves and stamina to wrap up the deciding game 6-1.
The men’s doubles was won by Rwanda’s Olivier Nkunda/David Habyambere who defeated Cedric Babu/Jean Claude Gazigwa 6-4, 6-4, while Kallars and Daniel Ruyange lost to Herbert Buyinza and Caroline Oduor in the mixed doubles final 6-3, 7-6.
The tournament sponsored by Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) through their Castle Lite brand attracted over 150 players from Rwanda, Tanzania, Holland, Kenya and hosts Uganda, climaxed with an awards ceremony where top players received cash prizes and trophies.
Tournament Director John Kasule said the level of tennis since the event started has been high and the youngsters showed tremendous improvement.
