17th September, 2013
Nigeria’s junior tennis team returned from the Junior International Tennis Federation, ITF Circuit in Togo, with four bronze medals.
Coach of the players, Ubale Mohammed, told P.M.NEWS Tennis Special on arrival from Togo, that he is satisfied with the players’ performance.
Ubale added that one of the players created an unlikely upset during the tourney despite the fact that their preparation was not perfect.
According to him: “It was a very good performance by the players because of the level of opposition. The maximum age of the players we took there was sixteen, so you can say that they really did well.
“Winning four bronze medals at an international championship is by no means a mean feat. In fact, one of our boys created unlikely upsets when he defeated a Morroccoan and an Egyptian, who were in world rankings.”
However, Ubale bemoaned the absence of tournaments as the only bane of the youngsters, stating clearly that most of the other players who were there just finished playing tournaments before arriving Togo for the Circuit.
He called on the Nigerian Tennis Federation, NTF, to help facilitate sponsors to ensure that there are enough championships for the young players.
“The only thing I believe we did not do well going into this Championship is the fact that we did not have any ‘Championship practise’ before leaving the country.
“Most of the players we came up against had just finished playing one tournament or the other. If we could play and win four bronze medals without any prior tournament, you can only imagine what will happen if we had played at least one.
“We need the federation to get sponsors who will help us organise tournaments for these junior players and I can promise you that the sky will be our limit” Ubale enthused.
—Damilare Okunola