Zimbabwean ahead

By William Muwonge TOP seed Gwinyai Tongoona of Zimbabwe came from a second down to beat Rwanda's Sylvaen Rutikanga at the Ugandan leg of the ITF/CAT Circuit yesterday. It was one of three matches Zimbabwean players won to reach the men's singles semi finals at Kampala Club. Tongoona ejected the unseeded Rutikanga 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in 1 hour and 15 minutes. But Rutikanga saw victory slip away at a critical moment. With a set up, leading 5-3 and serving for the match, Rutikanga lost his serve. Tongoona then served for 5-5, went ahead to break his opponent in the 11th game and won the next game to take the set. Tongoona won the third set easily. Kenyan star and third seed Norbert Oduor joined the three Zimbabweans after the closely contested quarter finals match. A 6-1, 6-0 win pushed Oduor ahead against Ronald Senyanja, Uganda's last player in the event. The unseeded Senyanja had upset the eighth seed and teammate Chris Bagaala in straight sets at the second round. Rosette Musoke, Janet Magona and Edith Wamalwa, who advanced to the ladies singles and ladies doubles semi finals now carry Uganda's hopes. Third seed Musoke led her colleagues to the last four stage with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kenya's unseeded Wanjiru Mbugua in the ladies singles. But Rwanda's men's doubles players including Rutikanga quit the event at the quarter finals and could face disciplinary action from the International Tennis Federation. Today's action starts at 9.30am in the Civil Aviation Authority sponsored event that ends tommorrow. Ends