The Nigerian contingent to the ongoing ITF/CAT West and Central African championship in Benin Republic are proving their mettle with eye-catching performances in the tournament.
Nigerian Tennis Live gathered that the Coach Abel Ubiebi-tutored side put up some impressive displays when they took on their fellow African counterparts which comprise of Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin and Ghana.
Reports from the neighbouring African country have it that the boys are sailing after posting massive results; defeating Cote D’Ivoire 2-1 (winning two singles and lost doubles) and recording the same scoreline against hosts, Benin (winning one singles and one doubles while losing the second singles).
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| Serena Teluwo leading her teammates during a training session on Monday morning before their matches. |
In their match against Togo, the girls worked so hard to get past their West African neighbours but could only boast of a 1-2 scoreline after winning the team game and losing the singles in a hard fought pairing.
Coach Abel who led the team to Benin is unperturbed, however, as he believes that his wards are training so hard and getting better to topple their opponents and qualify from their respective groups.
He told Nigerian Tennis Live that: “As you already know, the boys will be playing four other teams while the girls are playing three others with the exception of Ghana since they don’t have a female team here.
“After the first two matches, our boys are topping the table and we are trying to see how we will win the remaining two in the coming days. As for our girls, we only lost our first match, and they are not even worried. Their spirit is high and are raring to go for the next match tomorrow.
“Nigerians should just keep being positive and pray for these young ones. They are really doing their best to ensure we leave Benin with something very positive.”
The talented and experienced Serena Teluwo is the captain of the Nigerian side to the tournament and she is joined by Iye Onoja and Basirat Okunola in the girls’ event. For the boys, Maxwell Joshua is joined by Emmanuel Ameh and Nekekpemi Michael.
The tournament which started on Sunday, 4 March, is slated to end on Thursday, 8 March, 2018.