The national tennis team, Golden Rackets, will today leave for Namibia to play their seven other countries in the Euro-Africa Zone Three competition.

The International Tennis Federation-organised competition will bring together Benin, Togo, Cote d?Ivoire, Mauritius, Turkey, Kenya, Ghana and hosts Namibia to vie for promotion to Zone Two.

Ghana will be battling for one of two tickets available for promotion to Zone Two while attempting to avoid the ignominy of relegation to Zone Four.The last two teams in the zone will be automatically relegated.

Last year, Ghana was relegated from Zone Two after losing to Slovenia in Accra and further succumbed to Tunisia in a play-off in Tunis.The Rackets are currently in camp at the Winneba Sports College under the supervision of the national coach Mr David Churcher, as they finish up their preparations for the competition.

Before moving to camp, the players underwent gruelling preparation at the Accra Stadium courts under Coach Churcher?s guidance. The team had been bolstered by the arrival of top seed Gunther Darkey and United States-based Salifu Mohammed, both of whom have joined team-mates Henry Adjei-Darko, Samuel Fumi, Fred Egyiri, and UK-based Solomon Koomson and George Buckman in camp.

Coach Churcher told the Graphic that his team faces a must-win situation and, therefore, cannot afford to disappoint the nation. ?This is a crucial moment for us. It is a make or break affair for Ghana as we must go past six nations or face another demotion to Zone Four, a position that has the potential of destroying Ghana?s tennis hopes,? Churcher said.