Thomas Otu has won his first ever Dala Hard Court Tennis Championship after seeing off a spirited Joseph Imeh 7-5, 6-4 in an entertaining finale in the ancient city of Kano.
The players who were both playing for the trophy and the N1million jackpot which the winner takes home, were both in high spirits and entertained the audience in Kano with some of the best tennis displays one can expect from a final.
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| Engr. Dayo Akindoju, the NTF President presenting the trophy to Thomas Otu after an amazing performance in Kano. Photo: Tennisng |
Imeh won the toss for who serves first and rightly began the game but both kept trailing each other before Imeh raced to a 4-3 lead, but that was not maintained for too long as the Ndoma-Egba star man broke to level things up at 4-4.
At the end, Otu showed more mental strength to win the first set 7-5 with an astonishing ace that left the crowd bewildered. He got massive ovation for his efforts.
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| Otu lets out a roar after dropping an unbelievable volley which Imeh could not handle. Photo: Tennisng. |
The second set started pretty much the same way the first ended with Otu, a former CBM Open winner, racing to a 3-1 lead and making Imeh look like he was not coming to the party, but the Team Muller main man would not go down so easily.
Imeh gathered strength and within minutes, turned the table around to storm to a 4-3 lead, the crowd was stunned! The former junior star gathered strength when it mattered the most and Otu seemed to be capitulating, but that was the last laugh Imeh had.
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| It is all over… Otu raises his hands in ecstasy after winning the Dala Hard Court Championship for the first time ever. Photo: Tennisng. |
Otu restored parity after breaking to keep hopes alive at 4-4, held serve and broke again to take the game at 6-4 and ensure that Imeh lost his second final in barely six months after losing the CBN final to Abdulmumin Babalola.