Reports reaching Naija Tennis Special have it that no fewer than 24 players are camping in Ekiti state ahead of the African Junior Tennis Championship which is scheduled to hold from January 11-22.
National junior sensation, Barakat Oyinlomo Quadri, MaryLove Edwards, Michael Osewa alongside other top junior players made it the camp as it was gathered that out of the 24 players, only 12 will eventually qualify to represent the country in the under 14 & 16 championship.
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| Oyinlomo and MaryLove undergoing intense training under the watchful eye of Coach Ubale. |
Camp which had been open for some days is expected to be closed on January 9 while the team will depart the country for Togo a day afterwards.
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| Eyes on the ball… Coach Ubale tells MaryLove |
Recall that Oyinlomo and Osewa have been in really good form for about two years now, breaking records and setting new ones while MaryLove has also turned heads with some scintillating performances in recent years.
The trio have been identified as key prospects from Nigeria to make it to the seniors in no distant future.
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| Fitness drilling by Coach Abel. |
On the players’ preparations, Coach Abel told Naija Tennis Special live from the training base that the players were battle ready, especially since they were all already in high spirits.
Asked if Oyinlomo can stun top players of the world like she did towards the end of last year, the ever smiling coach said: “Yes, I think we are ready, although other countries will be working really hard to beat us.
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| Bring it down, down… |
“We are ready for the task and by tomorrow (January 6), we shall come up with the final list of players who will travel to Togo.
“There is also a team event modeled after the Davis Cup, it is a new development by the ITF and we are also prepared for this new addition.”
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| Osewa jogging out the effect of harmattan during the training session. |
Sources at the team’s camp informed our correspondent that the Vice President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Yemi Owoseni is presently in camp with the children alongside national junior coach, Ubale Mohammed.
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| “We are almost ready, sir,” Coach Ubale seems to be telling Mr Owoseni, the NTF Vice President at the training ground. |