EXCLUSIVE: First National Tournament May Be Played In February – NTF President
There are strong indications that the first national tournament of year 2019 will be played within the first three months of the year.
This much was revealed by Engr. Ifedayo Akindoju, the president of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), in an exclusive interview with Nigeria Tennis Live.
He informed that efforts are being put in place to have the second edition of the Vemp Open tournament played sometime in February as well as host the maiden edition of Brains and Hammers the following month so as to prepare the Nigerian players for the ITF tournaments that come afterwards.
Sylvester Emmanuel poses with the trophy he won at the inaugural edition of Vemp Open. Photo credit: Google
According to Engr. Akindoju, the federation is working hard on ensuring that the players are kept busy for most part of the year as they also work on junior tournaments for the upcoming ones.
Recall that the Vemp Open was introduced to the Nigerian tennis circuit in 2018, with Sylvester Emmanuel defeating then number one player, Joseph Imeh in two straight sets to lift the trophy.
Now in its second year, the NTF president said: “The tournament is actually meant to come towards the second half of the year, but we are seriously working on moving it to the first half of the year before the ITF tournaments.
“We are also planning for the inaugural edition of the Brains and Hammers tournament to hold immediately after the Vemp Open so that the players can be competitively prepared for the international tournament that will follow.”
The federation, Nigeria Tennis Live gathered has also set machinery in motion to have Junior ITF tournaments hosted by Nigeria in the new year.
Nigeria Tennis Live will post the details of the plan in subsequent publications.
