Dieudonne Habiyamber on tennis court
Rwanda’s Dieudonne Habiyambere and Kenya’s Ismael Changawa Mzai face-off today in the quarter final round of the Rwanda Tennis Open taking place at Amahoro National Stadium tennis courts.
Habiyambere, seeded number seven at the on-going tournament faces a tough challenge from Kenya’s seed two at 09:00am on court two in the first meeting between the two players, with each vying for a slot in tomorrow’s last four.
“Changawa is a tough player and favourite to win but I am focused on staging a triumphant win. I have had a good tournament so far and I want to build on these performances to be able to go into the final stages of the tournament,” added the CSK based player.
On his part, Changawa said, “No player is easy to beat in this tournament. Habiyambere is among many players who have improved their play. So I can’t say that it will be an easy game, I will have to do my best to win and that’s my mission.”
Habiyambere sealed a quarter final round slot after defeating Ugandan Boris Iguma 6-1 6-2 in a round of 16 game played on Wednesday. In another game played on Wednesday, Rwandan Etienne Niyigena edged out Kenyan Ibrahim Kibet 6-4 7-5 to power into the quarters.
Other quarter final matches due on Thursday, Uganda’s top seed Duncan Mugabe takes on Rwandan Mubarak Harerimana at 9h00 in court one and they will be followed by a clash of Rwandans between Etienne Niyigena who will be up against fifth seed Olivier Havugimana in court one while Congolese eighth seed Christian Diamba faces Ugandan David Oringa in court two.
In the women singles category, sixth seed Marie Chantal Mutuyimana faces a tough task as she takes on Burundian second seed Aisha Niyonkuru in court one while top seed Shufaa Changawa faces Rwandan eighth seed Olive Tuyisenge in court three.
Giselle Umumararungu takes on Jocylene Umulisa in a Rwandan affair later in court one.
After the quarter final matches, participants will face-off in the doubles category.
The 2017 edition of Rwanda Tennis Open, which is organised by the Rwanda Tennis Federation in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and Culture, Bank of Kigali and Tigo, will see the winners take home US$1000 (men) and US$1000 (women) in prize money.
Quarter final fixtures
Men’s Singles, November 2
Duncan Mugabe (Uga) vs Mubarak Harerimana (Rwa)
Etienne Niyigena (Rwaa) vs Olivier Havugimana (Rwa)
Christian Diamba (DRC) vs David Oringa (Uga)
Dieudonne Habiyambere (Rwa) vs Changawa Mzai (Ken)
Women Pro Singles
Shufaa Changawa (Kenya) vs Oliva Tuyisenge (Rwanda)
Megane Ingabire (Rwanda) vs Hosiane Kitambara (Burundi)
Josylene Umulisa (Rwanda) vs Umumararungu Gisele (Rwanda)
Chantal Mutuyimana (Rwanda) vs Aisha Mutuyimana (Burundi)
