Dreams deferred: Virani brothers’ Spain tennis scholarship to wait
By Charles Thuku, August 4, 2020Eleven-year-old Zayan Virani and his 12-year-old brother Raqeem have been forced by the Covid-19 outbreak to delay the start of their six-year scholarship awarded by the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain.
The two students at the Crawford International School in Nairobi are among hundreds of promising youngsters around the world whose hope for specialised training have been blocked by the pandemic.
Naturally, the two brothers are disappointed but are confident that their dreams of becoming top tennis players will materialise in a few months.
The brothers are multi-talented as they also excel in hockey and football apart from tennis which is their main sport.
Zayan is the captain of both the Crawford under-11 hockey and football teams.
Raqeem is a grounded player with a bright future. He scored two out of three goals that positioned his team to win the Private and International Preparatory Schools Sports Association that was held in February.
In March last year, the duo topped in the 12 and under championships that were held at the Nairobi Club.
The brothers were part of a three-member team representing Kenya in the final event of the third edition of the Africa Junior Teams Competitions in Morocco which took place in September and they emerged sixth overall in Africa.
The siblings received an invitation to play in the 2019 Team-Pro Global Junior Tour held at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain which brought together exceptionally talented boys and girls from all over the world.
Raqeem had the misfortune to be sidelined due to an elbow injury, but Zayyan won the tournament.
Jenny Coetzee, the Managing Director of Crawford International School commented: “Despite the Covid-19 we are confident that Raqeem and Zayyan will be able to travel to Spain and pursue their scholarships as this is a lifetime opportunity for them.
We will continue to be their number one cheerleaders as an institution during the six-year period of their new athletics journey.
“At the moment the brothers together with their sister, Inaaya Virani, who is in Year Four and is a budding athlete as well, are continuing with their studies at Crawford online classes like the rest of the students as we wait easing of travel restrictions,’’ said Coetzee.