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.
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.
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