Tennis: Nigeria battles 7 countries in Africa Junior Masters

Nigeria will slug it out with seven other African countries as the best junior tennis players across the continent converge in Rabat, Morocco for the Africa U14 Junior Tennis Masters.

Rising sensation, Oyinlomo Quadri and Micheal Oshewa will lead Nigeria’s challenge at the five-day event which will feature players from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Burundi, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The draw for the event is scheduled for Tuesday.

Nigeria’s coach, Mohammed Ubale and Oshewa, left the Lagos airport in the early hours of Monday to team up with Quadri, who is on a year-long ITF scholarship in Morocco.

13-year-old Quadri has been one of the most consistent junior players in Africa a fact highlighted by her dominance of the West and Central African Circuits. The same could be said of Oshewa, 13, whose remarkable performance at the ITF Circuit in Nairobi, Kenya and the African Junior Tennis Championship in Tunisia this year surprised many.

“We stand a very good chance because the two players have been on top of their game throughout the year,” Oshewa has been under my watch and he is set to go and Oyin’s game must have appreciated since she moved to Morocco last month and I believe she will be under no pressure; she should feel at home,” Ubale said.

Ubale pointed that the incentives for players that distinguished themselves at the championship is too huge such that the nation’s representatives will not want to miss.

Nigeria’s best outing at the tournament was in 2012 when Candy Idoko proved to be the best rising talent in Africa by winning the Boy’s U14 title while Sarah Adegoke capped a remarkable outing for Nigeria by clinching the Girl’s title to put Nigeria on the front burner in African Junior tennis.

Stand-out performers at the event will be entitled to an ITF grant which will be used to feature in junior tournaments across the world.

Tunisia 2015 AJC: Nigerian Players Beat Algerian, Tunisian Opponents

Nigerian players began their chase for a continental glory on a good note by posting impressive results on going 38th ITF/CAT African Junior Tennis Championship (AJC) in Tunisia as Oyinlomo Quadri and Adetayo Adetunji advanced to the next round with wins on Monday at the clay court tournament.

In the girls’ U14, Quadri defeated Nesrine Troubia of Algeria as she came from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 while Adetayo Adetunji held her composure to beat Emma Fahmia of Tunisia 6-3 , 6-4 despite the tremendous support enjoyed by her opponent who was playing before a home crowd. Nigeria was however made to taste a pill of defeat as Ayoola Michael lost to an Egyptian opponent in the boys’ U14.

Nigerian players had put up an average display in the traditional warm up tournament which was concluded last weekend with Nigeria’s Michael Osewa being the only player from West Africa that got to quarterfinals at the Warm Up tournament.

But it was a different story entirely when the tournament proper gets underway as the Nigerian players were in top form to send shivers down the spines of their counterparts from the other participating countries.

Martins Abamu, Godsgift Timibra, Angel MacLeod and Charity Patrick will all be in action on Tuesday at the tournament featuring 32 countries.

Nigeria’s coach, Mohammed Ubale expressed optimism that the country can put up a memorable performance to justify their ranking as the best team from the West & Central African Zone which the country won in January to lead the Zone to the tournament with eight players which is the highest from any of the Zones.
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Tunisia 2015 AJC: National Players Swoop On Titles At Country Club Tourney

Tunisia-bound national junior players will be the centre of attraction as the final of the MP Tennis Championship holds today at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.

The five-day clay court tournament is serving as the final build-up for Nigerian players to the forthcoming African Junior Tennis Championship serving off on Monday in Tunis, Tunisia.

Martins Abamu, who will be representing the country in the Boys’ U-16 category, is the overwhelming favourite for the title, while Micheal Ayoola and Michael Oshewa, who will be competing in the U-14 are also in pole position to clinch the final places.

In the girls’ U-16 category, Angel McCleod looks unstoppable to clinch the top prize but she is expected to be given a tough match by her Team Nigeria teammate Oyinlomo Quadri.

13-year-old Quadri was the only player to bag two gold medals for Nigeria at the West & Central Africa Circuit which served as qualifier for the AJC in January in Lome.

Meanwhile Serena Teluwo will battle Reya Holmes in one of the semifnal matches of the girls’ U-10 billed for Friday while Oyinkansolami Doruwoju and Mary Udofia clash in the other semifinal.

Serena, who is regarded as another star-prospect by national junior coach Mohammed Ubale, topped her group by beating Doruwoju 4-2, 4-2 and Basirat Okunola 4-0, 4-0 in her opening group matches before finishing the day with sheer perfection with another 4-0, 4-0 win over Ozia Yajubu.

Gabriel Ekundayo and Joseph Fortune will battle for a place in the final of the Boy’s U-10 with the winner confronting the victor of the tie between Kehinde Ganiyu and Stephen Akpanke.