Omolade Aderemi of Ondo State achieved what she called “the win of my life” when she recorded an upset victory against No. 1 seed Rebecca Ekpeyong from Akwa Ibom in the Girls 16s quarterfinals.
Nigerian Tennis Live gathered that Ekpeyong who came to the tournament as ‘the girl to beat’ having won the all Nigeria Secondary Schools championship in Ilorin late last year, was not allowed to settle down by herlanky, left handed, 16 year-old opponent who stands at 6ft.
Aderemi served flawlessly and comitted only three unforced errors in the one set match while the top seed sprayed balls all over the place and could not find her rhythm –
bowing out 6-1.
 |
| Ondo-based Aderemi looks good for the U-16 title. |
Aderemi will now meet Kaosara Adegboyega from Ibadan who won a close match against Timipre Maxwell from Port Harcourt 7-6 for a place in the finals.
In the Boys 14 event, the top two seeds are on course to meet in the finals. Daniel Adeleye from Ekiti, the No. 1 seed beat John Peter from Port Harcourt 6-0 while second seeded David Ekpeyong from Akwa Ibom beat Samofe Ramon from Lagos 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
The younger boys and girls appear to be attracting the most attention from spectators as the 10 and 12 year-olds are playing some exciting and unrestrained tennis.
Gabriel Inyang, one of the youngsters Nigerians will be hoping to see hoist the nation’s flag at international competitions, was also the cynosure of all eyes as he won two of his games 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinal stage of the competition.
Inyang will be hoping to win the CBN Juniors and step up his preparation to start competing in more CAT/ITF tournaments.
Lagos based Serena Telewo (12) who was asked to step up to the 14s justified the confidence the organisers had in her game by beating an older and more exposed opponent, Esther Marshall, 6-2. Chidinma Ezeh from Onitsha also stepped up from the 12s and won a tight match against Peace Obabori from Lagos 6-4.
The championship which is being run by the International Tennis Academy is taking place at the National Stadium, Surulere until Friday 6 April.
The grand finale will hold at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Race Course on Saturday 7 April, starting at 12 noon.