By RONALD CHAWE –
BUDDING badminton star Kalombo Mulenga yesterday budged into the semi-finals of the Confederation of Africa Badminton (BCA) South Africa under-19 championship playing in Pretoria.
The Zambian star, who is the country’s sole representative at the games, saw off South Africa’s CadenKakora 2-0 crash to reach the quarter-finals before escaping coming out on top in the in a three-setteragainst Mauritian TejraiPultoo to reach the last four.
After going down 15-21 in the first set where he twisted his ankle, a therapy on the foot helped him respond the better in the second set which he nicked 21-19 before another long game in the third set where he prevailed 21-17 to progress.
However, he now has a mammoth task to deal with in the semis today where tournament first seed Zach Russ of England awaits.
Kalombo’s coach Juma Muwowo also recognised how tough the semi-final game will be by stating that the player needed to beat the best to first reach the final and then even win the title.
“It feels so good for his progress considering how tough it was. He twisted his ankle in the first set which affected his movements,” he said.
Muwowo said it was pleasing to note that Kalombo reached the last four, a position most senior players failto get to before stating that most of Zambia’s top male players were still young and would soon hit the mark.
The Badminton Zambia (BZ) deputy general secretary said with proper support, the Zambian players will soon be world beaters.
Over the weekend, senior badminton players failed to reach the medal brackets after failing to reach the semi-final.