They recently held the inaugural edition of the tournament in honour of the late tennis star, who died in the United States (aged 28) four years ago in the prime of his career.
Kindness Moyo, who paid tribute to Khumalo, said the success of the recent tribute tournament inspired the idea to expand the tournament.
“The event was a huge success with the finals being played at Emakhandeni Tennis Club. Hopefully, the tournament will be an Open tourney, under the Tennis Zimbabwe calendar, which makes it a national tournament,” said Moyo, who also hailed local entrepreneur, Tendai Sibanda, for sponsoring the tournament.
“There was a good attendance at the tourney players from all over Bulawayo with schools, academies and clubs represented. We had more than 120 kids playing the tournament from Under 10 to 18,” he added.
Moyo said the tournament was a befitting tribute to Khumalo, who was nurtured in this centre, which has lost its lustre over the years due to neglect but is gradually clawing its way back to life.
“The idea that inspired us to run the tournament was mainly to revive the club, bring the community and schools together to participate in the sport and to start a development programme at grassroots level. Khumalo was a well-known tennis player throughout Africa. He was the first Zimbabwean to play Junior Wimbledon,” said Moyo.
Post published in: Sport