Nigeria’s contingent to the Davis Cup World Team Cup competition in Cairo, Egypt, placed fifth after defeating Algeria 2-0 in the play offs to determine their position after the highly competitive tournament.
Host Egypt were given a scare before rallying to defeat Nigeria 3-0, but the Zimbabweans – in spite of their 2-1 win – were made to realise the prowess that the Nigerian contingent carried to the championship.
The team would later let out their wrath on Rwanda (who were the group’s whipping boys) by winning 3-0 before making it a memorable one by defeating Algeria 2-0 in the play off.
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| Team Nigeria before their doubles match against Zimbabwe which was won by the latter. |
This result means that Nigeria now has better points and will ‘advance’ from having more than 80 points to over 90 points after an impressive tournament which was characterized by late preparations on the path of the federation.
Coach Benson Ishicheli, the team’s captain, told Naija Tennis Special that the players were fired up to qualify from the group for the newly-inaugurated Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Mr. Ifedayo Akindoju, but could not manage the feat.
He stated, however, that “if the players could put up such an impressive performance with a last-minute preparation, you can imagine how they would have performed if they were better equipped for the task.
“Our new NTF president showed us massive support ahead of the tournament and I believe he will be proud of the players after their impressive show in Egypt.”