Bayelsa and Lagos States won most titles at the recently concluded SAPETRO Futures Tennis Championship held inside the tennis section of Ikoyi Club, Lagos.
The week-long event featured Boys’ and Girls 12, 14 and 16 & under categories with players participating from across different parts of the country.
Bayelsa State took both the Boys and Girls 12 titles with Excellency Oginiba beating Ghazal Ashim from Oyo State and Karina Opuene outlasting Barakat Ganiyu also from Oyo State in three 10-point tiebreak sets.
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Mofifunoluwa Atilola, Nigeria’s precocious tennis talent from Lagos, once again emerged the star of the junior tournament.
The 11-year-old was pushed to the 14s and 16s and reached the finals in both events. She beat Success Godwin of Ekiti in straight sets in the 14s but lost by the same margin to Goodnews Aina from Ekiti State who was winning back-to-back titles in the Girls 16s.
The Boys 16s title was won by Gbolahan Olawale from Ondo State who defeated Onyekachi Ogumjiofor from Oyo State in the finals.
Lagos-based Isa Yahaya won the Boys 14s event with a surprisingly easy two straight sets victory against Goodluck Tersoo from Abuja who had claimed the 14s title in their last meeting.
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After the finale at the Ikoyi Club in Lagos on Saturday, Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, pledged to work with the private sector, States and organizations like the International Tennis Academy involved in the structured age group development of talents in the country to ensure that Nigeria becomes a global sports power.
“My attending this event underlines the emphasis we are going to place on grassroots sports development going forward.
“We will work with the States to make sure that we can identify the best talent in all the major sports in age groups starting from age 10 and I am sure that working with all stake holders, Nigeria will never again return from an Olympic Games empty-handed,” Dikko said.
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The NSC Chairman who stressed that his attending the SAPETRO Futures final should underline the importance he was going to place on grassroots development of all the major sports, presented a “thank you” plaque to the MD of SAPETRO Emeke Anagbogu who said the level of organization and standard of the competition was a sure sign that Nigeria has a lot of sports talent who will do well at the world stage in the near future.
