Engr. Ifedayo Akindoju, the newly-inaugurated president of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), has hailed the Nigerian team to the recently concluded Davis Cup for putting up such a great performance even though they could not advance to the Group 2 of the competition.
Nigeria’s quartet of Abdulmumuni Babalola, Clifford Enosoregbe, Sylvester Emmanuel and Joseph Imeh were led to Egypt by Coach Benson Ishicheli, and came fifth after losing out to Egypt and Zimbabwe.
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| Nigeria’s Joseph Imeh during the Davis Cup championship in Cairo, Egypt. Nigeria ended fifth after losing to the host country and Zimbabwe. |
The coach had told Naija Tennis Special that every Nigerian in Cairo, venue of the clay court tournament, was proud of the team’s performance even though they did not get to achieve the major aim of their participation.
And in his reaction to the player’s putting, Akindoju noted with all sincerity that the players did really well at the tournament, especially given the circumstances that surrounded their participation in the championship.
“We did extremely well at the championship and even though we did not win matches to make us qualify for the next phase, we did not just go out there to make the number.
“With the new administration on board, I believe things will get better for tennis in the coming years, as God is helping us,” he noted.
Nigeria’s fifth place finish at the tournament means the country amassed more points from its previous placing and will seek to get better in subsequent editions.