Abubakar Yusuf was the star of the show after putting up a virtuoso display to dislodge fans’ favourite, Basit Ajao, in the boys youth final of the 2023 UTR Tournament in Lagos.
The player from Mambilla Barracks Tennis Club in Abuja did enough to unsettle his opponent whom he had initially beaten in the round robin for the youth boys before ending up against him in the finale and winning 6-0, 6-2.
An excited Abu told Nigeria Tennis Live after the match, that the UTR Tournament was a good way of preparing himself for the fast approaching Dala Hard Court National Tennis Championship holding in Kano.
He noted that: “I feel very happy to have won this tournament, I am also grateful to the organizers for putting this together for the players.
“This is like a really good way to prepare for the Dala tournament and to help with my fitness ahead of the competition.”
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In the Boys 12, Yakubu Adeiza, the youngest sibling of the Yakubu sisters, found his way past homeboy Mohammed Okandeji, winning the match 6-4, 6-2 while David Edward, the younger sibling of Nigeria’s current number one, Marylove Edwards, defeated Heman Afaramai in a keenly contested Boys 14 finale. The game ended 6-2, 7-6(4), 10-8.
Kehinde Lawal was no match for Ogunyemi Joseph when the pair turned up to play the Boys 16 final as he took the game comfortably with a 6-1, 6-1 won.
Current national U-10 champion, Mofifunoluwa Atilola, lived up to her rating as Nigeria’s young starlet, as she bossed the Girls 12 final with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Tiffany Osho while Success Ogunjobi made light the Girls 16 final against Osahirun Osayimwem, winning 6-0, 6-0.
The Adeusi sisters pretty much had nothing to gain or lose as Toyosi won the Girls 16 final after leading 6-4 with the sister retiring in the second set.
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Mr. Segun Aluko, president of the Tennis Players Parents Association (TPPA) who organized the UTR tournament, expressed satisfaction with the level oof participation, with a special appreciation to the sponsors, PZ and Flour Mills.
“For the first two-three years, it was the TPPA that was sponsoring this, but now we are happy to say that we have two sponsors who have come in to support us. PZ and Flour Mills, whom you may have noticed, fed the children morning and afternoon.
“With the regionals continuing from Ibadan next week, you can see clearly that we are expanding and are looking forward to the big one in December, where winners from all the regions will gather in Lagos for the grand finale,” he said.
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