By Grace Ekujumi, Lagos
The 16th edition of the CBN Junior Tennis Championship, which many refer as the bedrock of Nigeria’s tennis development, came to a very exciting end yesterday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club (LLTC) with junior players from age 10 showing amazing talent and grit.
In the Boys 10 & under category, defending champion Murewa Egbeyemi showed exceptional determination to overcome the challenge of Dubem Amasiani who won the last ITA Junior Circuit tournament in Port Harcourt which Egbeyemi did not attend. It was a dogfight which lasted over an hour with some points going up to 30 solid rallies. But, once Egbeyemi broke for a 4-3 lead he consolidated his lead and held firm to retain his title 9-5.
It was a similar close and fiery contest between Nigeria’s two leading 16 & under players – Seun Ogunsakin and Ganiyu Mubarak.
Mubarak led 5 – 3 and then 6-5 before Ogunsakin, popularly called Nadal by his fans, surged through to win four straight games from an obviously tiring opponent to retain his title.
Godwin Kienka, director of the International Tennis Academy, organisers of the circuit, said: “the standard of our top juniors in all categories is as good as you can find anywhere in the world. What we need now is to find investors who will put some funds behind players like Seun Ogunsakin, Ganiyu Mubarak, Ohunene Yakubu and Bright Emmanuel who in my estimation are capable of being top 30 players in the world.
“Players ranked in the top 30 in the world, playing doubles and singles” Kienka continued, “are guaranteed between five and ten million dollars in career prize money over a ten year career span. It will surely be a worthwhile investment for any sports loving moneybag.”
The director said the plan will be to send them to an Academy in Spain, France or the USA for a couple of years during which they will be playing qualifiers and once they have their skills and confidence grounded, get them a team of trainers and coaches to run their professional career.
The Girls’ events also recorded some upsets and interesting duels.
Jasmine Benjamin from the Apapa Club program followed through her semifinal upset of defending champion Khadijat Mohammed with a convincing 9-4 victory over second seed Success Ogunjobi from Ekiti.
Ndifreke Benjamin, another player from the Apapa Club, won the Girls 12 & under beating Ndidi Osaji from the LLTC.
The host Club also won the Girls 10 & under through Mofi Atilola who beat Favour Okon-James from Akwa Ibom 9-3.
The boys 12 title was won by Seyi Ogunsakin from Ekiti who defeated Husseini Ayoola from Ogun State 9-3 while the boys 14 title went to Joel Benjamin from Apapa Club who outplayed Joseph Ogunyemi from the LLTC 9-5.
The grand finale of the weeklong tournament was attended by several dignitaries and directors of the CBN led by the Director of Corporate Communications ,Osita Nwasinobi.
