There are strong indications that Nigeria’s loss to Namibia in the Davis Cup tournament in Kenya, may have been a technical glitch on the path of the Nigerian team.
Nigerian Tennis Live had reported that the players lost the opportunity to gain promotion to Euro/Africa Zone II after coming closest (in recent years) to winning the second ticket from the Group III.
The failure to gain promotion did not go down well with some tennis stakeholders in the country as they had kept believing that it was within reach for the team, hence some reactions which it generated.
Respected national junior tennis coach, Abel Ubiebi, poured encomium on the players for putting up such a fight in their matches, especially during difficult times on the court, noting that they may have lost the ticket due to hard luck which cannot be ruled out of life.
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| Abdulmumin and the boys could not gain promotion from the Euro/Africa Zone III in spite of their unbelievable efforts. |
He however, pointed out that the team could have enjoyed the luxury of having a technical director to guide them, a situation which may have salvaged the day for the determined Nigerian stars.
“This team is a great team. They have all it takes to give us what we need – Promotion to Group II.
They gave all their best, just that luck (which you can’t rule out sometimes in life) was not on their side. Better chance next time,” Coach Abel had written under a post on social media.
While hailing the quartet of Abdulmumin Babalola, Joseph Imeh, Christian Paul and Sylvester Emmanuel, calling them “wonderful”, the PTR tester, said: “However, they would have done better if experienced technical man (coach) was on ground with them.”
“You cannot rule out those tips (that look little) as advantages in an event like this, especially playing on clay court.
“We deserve to know from the NTF board, to the technical department, why a coach was not attached to this team.
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| The boys from Nigeria were unarguably disappointed about the inability to gain promotion after losing narrowly to Namibia. |
“No coach was with them during camp and none accompanied them to the event, We need to know why they took such a risk.
“We need to know why they took such an important role for granted. We need to know,” the coach lamented bitterly.
In his response to Coach Abel’s calls for an explanation on why the players did not attend the tournament with at least a technical director, Sadiq Abdullahi, former Nigerian tennis super star, noted that it was not a good idea for the team to have been left to be by themselves.
“I understand the first part but don’t understand why there is no non-playing captain. This is definitely lack of organization on the part of the NTF. I will follow up on this. Thanks,” the former Olympian wrote under the same post.
Asked how he felt about the team failing to gain promotion after so much promise, Coach Benson Ishicheli who went with the team to the 2017 Davis Cup in Egypt, expressed deep frustration after the encounter.
In a brief chat with Nigerian Tennis Live, he said: “I cannot even tell you how I feel that we could not qualify after coming so close. It was a really hard luck for the boys because I was sure we would qualify with the draws that I saw from the start.
“Hard luck for the boys, really, they tried all their best but it just was not their day.”