One of Rivers State tennis youngsters, John Nubari was all shades of beauty in his third round match against Ayomide Folorunsho at the Azimuth Shipping Lines Limited Junior Tennis Championship in Lagos.
Nubari, a Mixed Doubles gold medalist at the National Youth Games in Ilorin, cast every doubt aside as he outplayed his opponent, winning 4-1, 4-1 in the boys U-16 event.
The youngster is now seeking a final four berth when hostilities resume on Thursday, as he hopes to live up to his rating.
In another match, AJC winning gold medalist, Yahaya Sani showed the gulf in class between him and young Joel Benjamin, winning in two clean sets of 4-0, 4-0.
Joel’s elder brother, was, however, a better player in his match as he progressed to the quarterfinals with a 4-0, 4-1 defeat of Muis Owolabi.
In the girls U-16 games, regular suspect, Success Ogunjobi pulled off a perfect 4-0, 4-0 win against Osebolade Lawal to advance to the quarterfinals just as Alice Paul was triumphant against Favour Anunobi.
The tournament’s Chief Referee, Kayode Savage, while speaking on the progress of the tournament, stated that all the categories would be participating in Thursday’s round of matches.
“Right now, we’ve been able to move really fast with the matches we had to play.
“So, by Thursday, we’ll have players from all the categories so that we can get to the semis of all the events.
“Everything is going as planned for now, and we’re glad,” he said.
This year’s edition of the tournament which is in its fourth season served off on Monday, 16 January and will climax on Saturday, 21 January, 2023.