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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Togo 2015 ITF Junior Circuit: Nigeria Clinches Top Place With 4 Gold, 1 Silver

Nigeria have emerged the overall winners of the first phase of the 2015 ITF West and Central Africa Junior Circuit holding in Togo with 4 gold and 1 silver medals.

At the Stade Ominsport, Lome on Wednesday, Nigeria started with a setback as Martins Abamu fell to Togo’s Antione Gbadoe 6-2, 6-3 in the Boy’s 16&U category but Michael Oshewa restored the nation’s pride when he triumphed with a 6-3, 7-5 over Ehaya Isaac of Cote d’Ivoire.

Oshewa’s feat sparked off the winning spirit of the Nigerian players as Mathew Abamu, a junior sibling to Martin, bagged a resounding 6-1, 6-1 win over Sodik Nougbessi of Benin Republic while in the girls’ 16&U Adetayo Adetunji defeated No 1 seed, Joanne Celestine Abommo of Gabon 6-3,6-2. Moments after, Barakat Quadri beat Becoude Karmine of Benin 7-5, 6-4 in the girls’ 14&U final to highlight Nigeria’s dominance at the double-phase tournament which is featuring nine countries.

The final phase is scheduled to start on Thursday with no fewer than eight Nigerian players listed for action.

National junior tennis coach, Mohammed Ubale said the team is poised for a better haul of medals. He assured that some of the lapses noted in his wards play will be effectively worked on for effective performance of the players.

Nigeria, which had a rigorous five-day close camping in Lagos for the point-earning tournament, is being represented by eleven players, who are featuring in the four categories.

Togo 2015 ITF Junior Circuit: Nigerian Players Clinch Final Places In Three Events

Nigeria’s impressive run at the ongoing ITF West and Central African Circuit in Togo continued on Tuesday with three of its players securing places in the finals of the tournament which is in two categories.
In the boys 16&Under, Martins Abamu recorded a 6-4 7-5 win over Frederick Coulibaly of Benin Republic to set up a final match against Antoine Gbadoe of Togo, who on his part defeated Nigeria’s Godsgift Timibra 7-6, 7-5.

Nigeria will also be competing at the final of the girl’s 16&U as Adetayo Adetunji crushed Marie Ange of Cote d’Ivoire 6-2, 6-2 to set up a clash with Joanne Celestine of Gabon, who narrowly edged Nigeria’s Angel McCleod with 5,7, 6-4, 6-4 win in a match that lasted more than two hours.

The boy’s 14&U team shared similar fate like their colleagues in the 16&U as Michael Oshewa forced the hosts to taste another pill of defeat from a Nigerian as he defeated Togo’s Danielle Goutjinou 6-3, 6-3 but he won’t have the chance of facing his compatriot Ayoola Michael in the final following the latter’s 6-4, 6-3 lost to Ehaya Isaac of Cote d’Ivoire.

Nigeria Tennis Federation President, Engr. Sani Ndanusa in his reaction to the performance of the Nigerian players at the tournament featuring nine countries commended the team for living up to their promises to sustain Nigeria’s top ranking in the tournament.

He assured that adequate support will be given to the junior team stressing that the country’s dominance will translate to the continent’s dominance at senior level in the next few years.

Togo 2015 ITF Junior Circuit: Four Nigerian Players Qualify For Semis

Nigeria made good its promises for a memorable outing as four Nigerian players yesterday booked their places in the semifnal of the ongoing 2015 African Junior Tennis Circuit holding in Lome, Togo.

The four players are Martins Abamu, Godsgift Timibra, Adetayo Adetunji and Angel McCleod.

In the Boys 16&Under, Abamu defeated Mannou Sylvester of Benin Republic 6-2, 6-1 while Timibra defied the crowd to beat Togo’s Sewabu Jacques 6-4, 6-2.

The winning streak of Nigerian players was extended by Adetayo and McCleod who defeated opponents from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire respectively.

2015 ITF West and Central Africa Junior Championship, Lome, Togo,

National junior tennis coach, Mohammed Ubale expressed confidence in the players declaring they are unstoppable to clinch the top prize.

‘Our preparation for the championship has really helped the players. They are playing better as the tournament progresses.

Ubale, who predicted that Nigeria will be out for a repeat of their 2014 performance at the ITF tournaments, said the future of Nigerian tennis is getting brighter with promising players rising through the ranks.

ITF West & Central Africa Junior Championship: Nigeria Targets Another Dominant Outing

After their splendid performances which saw them dominate most of the tournaments across the continent last year, Nigerian players will be the cynosure of all eyes as the 2015 ITF West and Central Africa Junior Championship serves off in Lome, Togo from January 9-14.

The eleven-man team, under the tutelage of Mohammed Ubale has been perfecting strategies for yet another impressive outing since the start of the week in Lagos. They are scheduled to depart for the tournament on Thursday.

2015 ITF West and Central Africa Junior Championship, Lome, Togo,

The players are Martins Abamu, Godsgift Timibra, Michael Ayoola, Oshewa Michael Mathew Abamu (all boys) while the girls players are Angel McCleod and Adetayo Adetunji, Oyinlola Quadri, Lolade Holmes, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Engr. Sani Ndanusa stated that the players were chosen based on the combination of their rankings and performance in 2014.

He disclosed that the mission of the team is to consolidate on Nigeria’s outstanding performance last year.

“We are looking forward to a great tournament in Togo and by extension the whole year ahead because we want to achieve a better result than what we had last year which no doubt ranks as one of our best in recent years. Our target is to raise the bar further by posting a far more impressive result this year,” Ndanusa declared.

Nigeria started last year by dominating the West and Central African Zonal Elimination Championship held in Abuja with 12 of its players bagging the zone’s 20 slots in the African Championship held in Nairobi, Kenya.

More eye-catching performances by Nigerian players were to follow at ITF junior tournaments in Togo and Benin where, among other of his compatriots, youngster, Joseph Imeh launched himself into prominence by winning the boy’s U-18 title in Lome and he reached the final in Cotonou a week later to move up considerably on the ITF junior rankings.