30th April, 2013
This year’s Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Senior Tennis Open will be used as a tournament which Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF would use to select players for this year’s African Zone Group III Davis Cup competition.
CBN’s Head of Internal Communication, Mrs. Odesanya Ogunmola, who represented the Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor, said at the press briefing to herald the CBN Open last week “it’s our desire to continuously move tennis forward in this country. To this end, this year’s CBN Open Championship will serve as trials for the Davis Cup and players who will be representing the country will be sponsored by the bank.”
Ogunmola further disclosed that the championship will also serve as trials for the wheelchair tennis’ World Team Cup in Turkey, in May as the bank seeks to further develop the disabled sport in the country.
“For the first time since the inception of the CBN Open over 34 years ago, we’ve introduced wheelchair tennis and the dynamism of this year’s championship is that it will serve as the trials for the World Team Cup.
“So, CBN would leave nothing to chance to ensure that Nigeria succeeds on the continental and global scenes,” she said.
The Davis Cup will hold in Cairo, Egypt while the World Team Cup will take place in Antalya, Turkey, in May.
—Damilare Okunola