Favour Okon-James played some of her most impressive tennis yet at the Chevron Junior Tennis Masters and stole the show at the event.
The Akwa Ibom-based youngster who was competing in the Girls 14 category, played against pre-match favourite, Gloria Samuel from Ekiti State, and effectively destroyed bookmakers’ predictions.
Okon-James who trains with the GEUF Tennis Academy in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, upset Samuel to clinch the U-14 title and capped her fine performance with a Most Improve Player (MIP) award.
According to Godwin Kienka, Director of the International Tennis Academy (ITA) – organizers of the event, the MIP award is one of the ITA’s most important trophies.
And Okon-James joining past winners of the accolade is a testament to the fact that she blew the minds of the competition’s organizers.
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The player’s coach, Ubong Essien, was excited about the player’s feat at the competition. He explained that he suspected that she was up to something after some amazing performances at the recently-held UTR Tennis Championship in Uyo.
“At that UTR tournament, she really played against tougher opponents and she did very well against them.
“So, to have come to Lagos and win the competition’s most improved player was not a surprise but very impressive, especially against the opponent she was up against,” he told Nigeria Tennis Live after the match.
Meanwhile, prodigiously talented Joel Michael copped the most improved award for the boys after the 12-year-old, who also upgraded to the 14s, gave the finalists a run for their money in the group stages and the semifinals.
The Lagos-based youngster, who has had an amazing year representing Nigeria at international tournaments, was a well-deserved winner of the highly-rated award by the organizers of the Chevron Masters.