After the delay caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, all is now set for hostilities at the 14th Edition of the CBN Junior Tennis Championship in Lagos.
Ganiyu Mubarak
The invitational tournament, hosted by the CBN in collaboration with the International Tennis Academy, ITA, and the first in-circuit this year, is being played at the Race Course, Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Lagos between October 6 and 11.
It features the best tennis players selected nationwide competing for honours in five categories – boys 12, 14, 16, and girls 14 & 16.
Moses Olamilekan & Ganiyu Mubarak
After the arrival of all participating players on Tuesday, round-robin fixtures started yesterday and will end tomorrow. Semifinals are on Saturday while the final is on Sunday.
Last year’s winners look to consolidate at the 14th Edition
At the 13th Edition, Suleiman Ibrahim and Omolade Aderemi emerged as the Most Outstanding Players. Omolade beat Omolayo Bamidele to emerge winner of the Girls under 16 category, while Suleiman Ibrahim finished as runner up to the eventual winner, David Dawariye in the boys under 16.
Other winners in the girl’s category were Esther Ehimebe, Nene Yakubu, Serena Teluwo that won in the 10s, 12s, and 14s respectively.
In the boy’s group, Yohanna Yakubu emerged winner beating Arwal Jaji in the under 10s, Seun Ogunsakin won the 12s beating Lucky Danjuma in the final, and David Ekpeyong saw off Ganiyu Mubarak in the under 14 category
It is expected that these winners would consolidate their good performance this year.
The safety of all is guaranteed.
Meanwhile, organizers of the tournament, International Tennis Academy have disclosed that to ensure the safety of the over 150 participants, all persons coming into the tournament’s venue will undergo temperature checks without exception by qualified medical personnel.
In a statement released, they also assured that adequate arrangements have been made for a dedicated hotel to house all participants
” Happily, tennis lends itself to social distancing and the LLTC with 3000 sitting capacity and nine courts is a perfect facility”, added the statement.
Besides, all players, their coaches, and parents would be supervised to observe safety protocols. Nose masks would also be made available daily for them to wear when they are not playing, along with handwashing and sanitizing fluids.
Photo Credit: Chris Onah
