End Of Year Review: CBN Open, AJC Tourney Light Up 2nd Quarter

The second quarter of the year was a busy period for Nigerian players just like the first quarter.

During the quarter under review, the African Junior Tennis Championship, AJC, was organised in Botswana, where Team Nigeria gave a good account of themselves in both warm-up competition and the main tournament.

Team Nigeria won silver medals in both singles and doubles’ events of the championship.

Coach of the team, Ubale Mohammed, said initially that the weather condition in Botswana affected his players during the warm up tournament, but later expressed happiness over his wards quick acclimatisation to the climatic condition in Botswana.

Nigerian tennis recorded its first major success in international arena, as the country’s U-14 players secured tickets to play in the Junior Davis Cup Championship slated for Egypt following their outstanding performance in the AJC.

Emmanuel Idoko and Joseph Imeh won the tickets for the nation.

Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, revealed that the federation was in dire need of support to prepare the U-14 players for the World Junior Tennis Championship, WJTC.

The scribe of the federation, Nkana Mbora expressed joy that the nation would participate in the championship. She described the head coach of the Junior Team, Ubale Mohammed and the players as good ambassadors of Nigeria.

The organisers of the CBN Open and the Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, embarked on crucial discussion on how to stage a crisis-free tourney. Mbora stated that the discussion with the big wigs of the nation’s apex bank was aimed at having a better organised championship with a lot of side attractions.

The quarter under review also witnessed the nation’s junior player, Emmanuel Idoko, selected for an ITF/ Grand Slam U-14 Junior Touring Team, which competed in some junior tournaments in Europe between July and August.

The team was part of the ITF and Grand Slam Development Programme financed by the ITF and Ground Slam Development Fund, GSDF.

Idoko said he was happy as he was gradually realising his dreams of making it big in tennis. He also stated that the CBN Opens was a good platform for him to prepare ahead of his European tour in August this year.

Winner of the Women’s event of the CBN Opens, Abiola Akewula, reiterated her commitment to reach the stardom in the game. She pledged to win the gold medal in tennis event of the National Sports Festival, tagged, Garden City Games.

She won the CBN Opens after beating Blessing Samuel in straight sets of 6-4, 7-5 in the final match.

The Men’s Singles was won by Henry Atseye who beat Nonso Madueke in two straight sets of 7-5,6-0.

The Men’s Doubles was won by the duo of Abdulmumini Babalola and Sunday Emmanuel who defeated the pair of Sunday Maku and Sunday Jegede in 6-4,6-1 game, while the Women’s Doubles was won by the duo of Fatima Abinu and Omotayo Ibrahim who beat Blessing Samuel and Christy Agugbom 1-6,7-6,10-5 in the final.

A total sum of N6.8m was doled out as prize monies by the CBN.

Nigerian coach, Sunday Enitan, made waves at Shaw in United States of America, by orchestrating a programme put in place to recruit foreign players on scholarship to the country.

On the international scene, William sisters rued their exit from the Wimbledon Open without a set between them to demonstrate that the women’s game is not quite the turkey shoot it might have seemed. It was always a bit ambitious to expect Serena and Venus to perceive that bigger picture themselves.