Nigeria’s hopes of retaining the titles won over three legs at the ongoing ITF U-18 junior circuit in Benin Republic and Togo suffered a huge blow on Thursday when Oyinlomo Barakat lost 4-6, 7-5, 1-6 to Bhakti Bawani, the tournament’s number six seed.
Naija Tennis Special gathered that the Nigerian youngster lost in the final set of an encounter which she was tipped to win after fighting so hard in the second set, a development which did not totally end the country’s dreams of winning the title back-to-back, albeit through a different player.
Adetayo Adetunji who is fresh from a US tour defeated America’s Kriti Williams in two quick sets of 6-1, 6-1 as she looks to serve as the shining light in the Nigerian team that needs a lot of motivation to pick themselves up from the loss.
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| Oyinlomo could not repeat the performance that made her the cynosure of all eyes at the ongoing ITF U-18 Junior Circuit |
Christopher Bulus also continued the huge win for the Nigerian side after dispatching India’s Vansh Bagthani 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the next phase of the tournament, but his other Nigerian counterparts could not manage same victory as Matthew Abamu lost 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to Eliakim Coulibaly of Cote D’Ivoire while Irish-born Nigerian starlet, Bola Obasoto was also defeated by Tunisia’s Adam Nagoude in two straight sets of 6-4,6-1.
Speaking on the outcome of the match which the team expected to have won, one of the coaches, Abel Ubiebi, noted that it was not a really good day for the Nigerian side, but the players have been able to hang on with the positives.
“We are actually taking it from the positive side. We lose some and win some and when the loss comes; we move on after brooding over it for a while.
“It is always the experience to build on. The players will keep fighting till the end and give a good account of themselves here,” he said.