Sunday Igbinovia rolled back the years and produced a fine performance which earned him the Men’s Singles title at the 10th Oba Saheed Elegushi Tennis Tournament.
The man who now runs a tennis academy showed traces of his brilliance and why he and his brother were two of the most dreaded Nigerian tennis players during their heydays.
Igbinovia, popularly called Sunny Dee, defeated Michael Atari 6-2, 6-2 in the finale of the event held inside the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos, on Sunday, 13 April, 2025.
Despite suffering an injury to his knee prior to the match, and was limping throughout the encounter, the elder brother of the famed Jonathan Igbinovia, maintained his composure, putting in big serves, interesting volleys and a his trademark one-handed backhand.
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He was rewarded with a giant winner’s trophy and N150,000 for his efforts and praised for his bravery during the match, despite being injured.
His opponent, Atari, went home with the runner-up trophy and N75,000 courtesy of Oba Saheed Elegushi, the prime sponsor of the championship.
Igbinovia was, however, not so lucky in the Team event as he and his partner in Team Elegushi could not defeat Team Gelede in the Doubles final.
Despite leading taking the first set 4-1 and leading in the second, Team Elegushi were made to pay for their costly errors and lack of cohesion during the encounter.
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A rampaging and rejuvenated Team Gelede fought tooth and nail in the second set to take the match to a deciding final set.
In the final set, decided by a match tiebreak, Team Gelede built a comfortable lead and should have wrapped up the game at 9-2 but for their opponent’s resilience.
Team Elegushi saved two match points, took the game to 4-9. With their opponent serving, the losing side were looking forward to taking more points but were stunned by the opposition.
A beautiful serve was met by an unstoppable forehand which confirmed the winner of the team event. The excited crowd inside the club broke into a frenzy as the celebrations began immediately.
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Team Gelede got a massive N700,000 for winning the championship while the runner-up, Team Elegushi smiled to the bank with their N500,000 reward for their efforts.
Prior to the commencement of the finale, Ogundare John Campos, the Chairman Eti-Osa East Local Government, showed off his tennis skills on the court with an exhibition match.
The tennis enthusiast and member of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, won his match against Basit Ajao, one of the ball hitters inside the club, in a game of fine margins.
Campos who showed that he is not a pushover on the tennis court despite his age, defeated his opponent 9-4 in the pro set event on Sunday afternoon.