West/Central Africa Qualifiers: Players Fight For Shirts
As preparations for the West/Central Africa Junior Championship Qualifiers in Ghana gather momentum, the country’s players in Ado Ekiti camp are battling for shirts to make the team.
The competition, which will be held in Accra, Ghana from 23 January to 2 February, is a qualifying tournament for the African Junior Championship scheduled for Tripoli, Libya in April.
Tennis Special gathered through the national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, that eight players are expected to represent the country out of 15 players called to camp by the Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF.
“The camp is bubbling with life and the players are in high spirits with the hope of making the final team we are taking to Ghana,†said Ubale.
“We are facing a tough time shortlisting the players because almost all of them have the experience of the AJC. But at the end of the day, we’ll give the country the best.
“After this camping, we’ll select eight players; four each for the male and female categories,†he said.
On his expectations from the players at the qualifiers in Ghana, Ubale, who is also a former national player, said he did not see his team having problem to qualify for the AJC in Libya.
“We have good players for the qualifying tournament in Ghana. So, I’m optimistic about our chances in the qualifiers. Some of the players featured in last year’s edition , where we picked tickets to play at the AJC hosted by Nigeria,†said Ubale.
Some of the players invited to camp are Umaru Balami, Emmanuel Idoko, Mohammed Mohammed, Ann Okoro, Miracle Sunday and Ramota Odeyemi who would compete in the U-16 category.
In the U-14 are Joseph Imeh, Sylvester Emmanuel, Michael Michael, Sarah Adegoke and Zainab Oladimeji.
Fifteen countries will take part in the championship.
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