After the disappointment of losing out in the semis of the first leg of the ongoing ITF Futures in Nigeria, Sylvester Emmanuel has advanced to the doubles final of the Dayak Open in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
Sylvester partnered Calvin Hemery from France to defeat the Indian pair of Bava Haadin and Bendre Avit in two straight sets of 7-6(5), 6-4 to a wild jubilation by fans and tennis enthusiasts who were at the Package B of the National Stadium in Abuja to watch the match.
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| Sylvester makes it to the final of the Doubles event at the Dayak Open. Can he just win it for Nigeria? Photo: Ewaoche Ameh. |
This is about the first time the Nigerian star is advancing to the finals of an ITF Futures and will look at going further by winning the match with his Nigerian-born partner.
Naija Tennis Special also gathered that in his Singles match, Hemery also made sure of a semi final qualification after beating Mukund Sasi Kumar in two straight sets of 6-2, 6-3 in a match that was concluded in less than one hour.
The number one seed will now tackle Brazil’s Fernando Romboli in the semis for a place in the final of the Singles event which will climax the one-week long tournament in Abuja.
In a rather unfortunate result of the day, fans favourite, Takanyi Garanganga from Zimbabwe, suffered a serious injury during his match against Canada’s Brayden Schnur.
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| Takanyi Garanganga (left) and Brayden Schnur before their match on Thursday, 11 May. Garanganga retired the match after sustaining a serious injury. Photo: Ewaoche Ameh. |
Garanganga who won the first set 6-4 could not continue the game in the second leg even though he was serving at 5-4 in the second set. The injury was so severe that he had to drop the set and retire the game much to the disappointment of the fans who had already fallen in love with him.
The Zimbabwean number one player will be out of action for about six weeks or more after pulling his muscle during the encounter.