ITF/CAT U18 Championship: Adetunji, McLoed Lead Team Nigeria To Tunisia

ITF/CAT West & Central Africa Junior Championship Girls’ 16&u singles champion Adetayo Adetunji and Angel McLeod will both headline Nigeria’s challenge at the 2016 ITF/CAT U18 Championship billed for Tunis, Tunisia from February 7-13.
Nigeria junior tennis head coach, Mohammed Ubale disclosed that the pair, who helped Nigeria retain the West & Central AJC qualifiers in Abuja in January, will be joined by Andiyo Inwang, a 16-year-old born of Nigerian and German parents.

This will be the second successive year that Nigeria will be heading to the championship, with a debuting player of dual nationality as Russian-born Melissa Ifidzhen made her start as a Nigerian in the 2015 edition which was also held in the Mediterranean country.

Ifidzhen had an average outing as she made an early exit in the singles but made up for it with a semifinal finish in the doubles where she paired with Elizabeth Garos-Pam, another player that made her Nigerian debut in 2014 to reach the semifinals in the doubles.

Both Garos-Pam and Ifidzhen thereafter made stunning entrance into the Nigerian domestic tennis stage. While London-based Garos-Pam reached the singles final of the Central Bank Open – the biggest domestic championship in the calendar of the Nigeria Tennis Federation –Ifidzhen, a Muscovite, went a step higher by clinching the Women’s individual top prize as well as the doubles and mixed-doubles.

Angel Mcleod

Ubale, who has been supervising McLeod’s training in Kaduna in the past two weeks, lamented the inability of Nigeria to register at least five more players for the championship, which is expected to feature about 90 players from over 30 countries, due to shortage of funds.

Nigeria’s best outing in recent years was achieved by Candy Idoko, who reached the doubles final and ended up as a quarter-finalist in the singles.

ITF/CAT U18 Championship Melissa, Garos-Pam Bow Out In Egypt

Melissa Ifidzhen’s hope of bagging a medal on her debut outing for Nigeria ended on Tuesday as she fell to Lee Barnard of South Africa 2-6, 7-5 6-1 in the second round of the ongoing 38th ITF/CAT African Closed Junior Championship holding at the Smash Tennis Academy in Cairo, Egypt.

After a one-sided opening set which saw the seventh-seeded South African breaking the Nigerian twice in succession from the third to sixth game, Melissa got her groove back by breaking her opponent in the fifth set of the second game to level the tie but fizzled out in the final set against her more aggressive opponent.

Less than two hours later, Melissa, a former Russian U12 champion, was back in action in the doubles and the energy consumed in her single’s clash reflected on her display as her tag with Elizabeth Garos-Pam could not match the fireworks from the pair of Chiraz Bechri of Tunisia and Ines Ibbou of Algeria who won the second round tie 6-2 6-3.

Bechri and Ibbou were seeded second and had received a bye coming into the match but they were also sent packing later in the day as they stumbled to the Egyptian duo of Hana Mortagy and Sandra Samir who are seeded seventh.

Other qualifiers in the doubles are Rita Atik / Zaineb Houari of Morocco, Rouxanne Van Rensburg / Katie Poluta of South Africa and Habiba Lasheen/ Farah Abd El Wahab of Egypt.

Togo 2015 ITF/CAT Tourney Nigeria Emerges Champions With 7 Gold

Nigeria once again proved her superiority in West & Central African tennis by winning seven gold and 1 bronze medal to emerge the overall winners of the ITF/CAT U16 Championship which was concluded at the weekend in Togo.

Oyinlomo Quadri was the star player of the double-phased tournament as she upset three higher rated opponents en route her winning the U14 girls’ singles.

She accounted for the exit of the number one seed, Kaita Aishata of Mali 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinal before capping a glorious outing with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Carmene Kpadonou of Benin in Saturday’s final at the Stade Omnisports, Lome.

photo credit ittf.com

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Although Quardi could still play in the U12, she was registered for the U14 in order to garner more points which would aid her featuring in the African Junior Championship Masters billed for Morocco later in the year.

Nigeria’s great showing at the weeklong tournament which featured five countries was highlighted by the country’s winning of the boys’ and girls’ U12 where Mathew Abamu and Toyin Asogba respectively defeated Suleiman Quattara of Cote d’Ivoire and Patricia Wamba of Cameroon 6-2, 6-1 and 6-3,3-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Nigeria will also be seeking glory as the ITF/CAT U18 Championship which serves off in Cairo, Egypt on Monday with Russian-born Melissa Ifidzhen leading a strong Team Nigeria.

The 16-year-old former Russian U12 champion will be making her debut for Nigeria at the tournament which will have more than 20 countries in attendance.

Other members of the team are Elizabeth Garos-Pam, who arrived Cairo alongside her dad from her London base on Friday. South African-based Adetayo Adetunji, Angel Macloed and Sunday Emmanuel complete the team to be led by coach Mohammed Ubale.

Nigeria Leads In ITF/CAT Tourney In Togo…,Russian-Born Melissa Lands In Egypt

Nigeria’s dominance of junior tennis in the West and Central Africa Zone continued yesterday as the country won three gold medals in the ongoing ITF/CAT U14 & U16 Championship holding at the Stade Ominsports in Lome, Togo.
Oyinlomo Quadri, who is the zone’s top rated player in the girls’ U12, justified her rating by beating Dotsie Vania of Togo 6-3, 61 in the final while Mathew Abamu edged Sadiq Noudgbessi of Benin Republic 6-3, 4-6, 7 -6 (4) in the boys’ U12 to seal Nigeria’s second gold of the day.

The icing of the cake for Nigeria, who is led by coach Abel Ubiebi, came when Quadre paired Toyin Asogba, a debutante for Nigeria at international level; to beat the combination of Cameroun’s Wamba Patricia and Dotse Vania of Cote d’Ivoire 6-2, 6-2 in the girls U12 doublesof the two-phased tournament featuring six countries namely Nigeria, Togo Benin, Mali Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroun.

Melissa Ifidzhen

Meanwhile, Melissa Ifidzhen, the Russian-born new Nigeria tennis star becomes the first player to arrive for the ITF/CAT U18 Championship holding from April 6-10 in Cairo, Egypt.

Nigeria Tennis Federation President, Engr. Sani Ndanusa confirmed the 16-year-old star- prospects arrival for the tournament which will be featuring over 80 participants from over 20 countries across Africa.

“Melissa’s dad just called me and he informed me that that he is now in Cairo alongside her daughter. This is the first time she will be coming to Africa to play and her early arrival is for her to acclimatize. I spoke with her and she is eager to make a very good outing in her first outing as a Nigerian player,” Ndanusa stated.