Bright Emmanuel and Khadijat Mohammed are in the Girls U-16 semis at the ongoing West & Central African Junior Tennis Championship in Togo.
The Nigerian girls who have been brutal since the competition started, will hope for an all-Nigeria final as they are both in the semifinals of the competition.
Lagos-based Emmanuel defeated Togo’s Ayegnon in a two-set encounter which ended 6-4, 6-1 in favour of the Nigerian just as Mohammed brushed aside Djemila Honvou from Benin Republic, winning 6-1, 6-3.
In the Boys U-16, Seun Ogunsakin and Prosper Okonkwo made little of their matches in the second round, as they won easily to land in the quarterfinals of the event.
Ogunsakin, former African number one U-14 player, defeated Ivory Coast’s Dery 6-2, 6-0 while Okonkwo showed no mercy against Didier Roland Kouao, also from Ivory Coast winning 6-1, 6-0.
Chukwudubem Amasiani produced arguably the biggest result of the day, defeating one of the top seeds, Adabra from Togo, 6-1, 7-5 in a fierce contest in the Boys U-14 event.
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Amasiani entered this competition on the back of his performances in 2023 as one of Africa’s most dreaded U-12 players, and it did not take long before he showed what stuff he’s made of in a senior category.
Nigeria’s other players in the Boys U-14, Seyi Ogunsakin and Joel Micheal, could not progress beyond the second round of the competition.
Ogunsakin was up against the tournament’s number two seed, Akuaku from Ghana, and put up a really good fight before succumbing to a 6-7, 2-6 loss. Michael was also in a tough battle against host Togo’s Djogbessi before losing with the same margin as Ogunsakin to the number four seed.
Meanwhile, in the Girls U-14, Lorelay Holzendorff and Gloria Samuel and Goodnews Aina were on fire in their matches today.
Holzendorff, a gold medalist at the National Youth Games, beat home girl and number five seed, Tossoukpe 6-0, 6-1; Samuel upset Togo’s Kpessou – the number four seed – 6-4, 6-4 while Aina crushed Kouagou from Benin Republic 7-5, 6-0.
Michael Okopi, Emmanuel’s foundational coach from the Apapa Tennis Club, expressed big delight at how his player has fared since she broke into the national scene.
According to him, the player’s progress since 2022 has been nothing short of exciting since his foundation, the Apapa Tennis Foundation (ATF) took charge of the player’s welfare.
He said: “Bright Emmanuel is our best player in Apapa Club and Apapa tennis foundation. I was the one who took her to play her first CAT/ITF tournament in Togo in 2022 courtesy of our foundation when I was under the tutelage of (Mohammed) Ubale – Nigeria’s national junior tennis coach.
“My foundation ATF got her international passport and sponsored the trip, then she was the Nigeria under 14/16 champion and ranked number one in the country.
“I am not surprised by her progress, really, because she has always shown us that she has the capabilities to reach heights that one can only dream of”.
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All the updates, fixtures and other results from the tournament can be read here.
Nigerians will be hoping for an all-Nigeria finale in the Girls 16 and expect that all the remaining Nigerian players in the competition move to the next round of the event which Nigerians hope to win across board.
Nigeria Tennis Live will continue to update our readers and followers on the latest results from the competition which served off on Saturday, 6 January, 2024.