The adventures of Team Nigeria at the ongoing ITF/CAT AJC Qualifiers in Lome, Togo, continued on Sunday afternoon, as the players were all shades of brilliance in their respective matches.
Information reaching Nigeria Tennis Live have it that the U-16 and 14 boys are already delicately poised to reach the final of the qualifying series having performed excellently in their initial matches.
Canice Abua and Suleiman were impressive in their matches against their Sierra Leonean opponents, as they crushed Alusine Turay and Aziz Jalo in respective wins of 6-0, 6-2 and 6-3, 6-3.
In the doubles, David Dawariye partnered Abua won against the partnership of Jalo and Gibrilla Kanu to complete a 3-0 routing of the Sierra Leone players.
With these results, the Nigerian youngsters will be coming up against their Togolese counterparts as they fight for a place in the finals.
The U-14 boys lost their final match against Ghana, but had done enough to qualify for the semis of the team event, and will be playing against Benin Republic, where a win will cement their place in the final.
Nigeria’s U-16 girls did not relent in their outstanding performance all week, as Marylove Edward won Yayhara Komashie 6-1, 6-1 while Oiza Yakubu crushed Sekina Adams 6-1, 6-1 from Ghana.
In their doubles encounter, Rebecca Ekpeyong and Yakubu dismissed Lawrencia Manu and Shekina Adams to complete the impressive wins for Nigeria.
The U-14 girls finally picked form when they copped their first victory in the team event against a stubborn Ivorian side.
Sulematu Haruna beat her opponent 6-0, 6-0 just as Serena Teluwo got the better of Marie Kouakou in a 6-2, 0-6, 6-0 before partnering with her Nigerian counterpart to overpower Leila Soumahoro and Kabo in two straights of 6-1, 6-1.
The girls 16 are poised to play Cameroun in their 4th match, and are looking good to top the group to qualify from the group while the girls 14
will tackle Sierra Leone for their 4th match. They’ve won one, lost two and have two to go.