The national tennis team under the tutelage of the Italian international coach, Fabrizio Caldarone, yesterday entered into a one week training camp in Tanga preparing for the tennis international competition known as Davis Cup.

Speaking at the opening of the camp dubbed ‘Tanga Cement Pre-Davis Cup Camp’, the Tanzania Tennis Association (TTA) secretary general, Inger Njau, said eight players from Arusha, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam would be in intensive training for the coming week.

“This will be the first time for Tanzanian men team to participate in the Davis Cup, the international competition that brings together more than 100 teams from various nations in the world,” she said.

Njau said TTA had been invited by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to participate to the Davis Cup scheduled to take place in 2014.

“But it could not be possible to assemble and have a camp without a helping hand from Tanga Cement, the company that has sponsored the camp and brought to Tanzania the Italian coach, Caldarone. We believe now our players will meet international standards ready for Davis Cup,” she said.

The Tanga Cement acting managing director, David Lee, said his company donated at least 7.5m/- as costs to pay the coach and players’ allowances.

“We know the importance of sports in maintaining youth health, which is also the nation health, as well as employment to the youth,” he said.

He said it was the second time for Tanga Cement to bring in the country the foreign tennis coach after they did so August last year when the same coach came to train national junior tennis camp.

Caldarone said at the event that for the time he was in the country he has already identified a number of youth talented players among those who were under him, and challenged the players to train hard so as to meet international standards.