After defeating Joseph Imeh in two hard fought sets of 7-5, 6-4 to win the 31st edition of the Dala Hard Court Tennis Championship in Kano, Thomas Otu has revealed the secret of his success.
The win makes it only the second time Otu will be crowned a national champion after winning the CBN Open in 2015 by defeating then crowd favourite, Michael Moses, and going ahead to become Nigeria’s number one player.
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| Otu lets out a loud moan after finally wining the much elusive Dala Hard Court Tennis Championship. |
In an interview with journalists after the entertaining finale in the ancient city, Otu who also won the inaugural and only edition of the Ekiti State All Nigeria Tennis Open in 2014, explained how he had lost in previous attempts at the Dala Championship.
According to him: “This is the second time I’m playing in the final of the Dala Open Tennis Championship. I have played up to the semis before and couldn’t even make it to the final, and when I did, I couldn’t win.
“But this year, I thank God for being the winner of the 2017 Dala Open Tennis Championship. I must confess that I put in a lot of work to get to where I am today and I practiced so hard too just to become a national champion.”
All the local players will now shift their focus to the fast approaching Rainoil Open Tennis Tournament which is expected to kick off in the coming weeks prior to the grand finale of the NCC Tennis League which will cap a rather incredibly eventful year for Nigerian tennis in recent years.
You can vote for your favourite junior tennis player via our Twitter handle @naijatennis to determine who is crowned the most outstanding junior player of 2017.
The names for other categories will be shortlisted as soon as the poll to determine the best young player ends.