Ahead of the SNEPCo Junior Invitational Tournament scheduled to kick off at the National Stadium on Monday, 27 May, tennis coaches and enthusiasts have faulted the organizers of the competition of the list of invited youngsters.
Nigeria Tennis Live had last week, posted a full list of players invited for the competition as released by the International Tennis Academy (ITA), the body coordinating the event, but this was met by a stiff opposition.
Under the Facebook page where the story was posted, some tennis followers across the country pointed out that the list was faulty, adding that some players were not supposed to be on the list.
Respected and highly experienced junior tennis coach, Abel Ubiebi, noted that he was surprised at the selection of the players for the invitational tournament.
He wrote: “Whatever is the criteria being used to select the players for this tournament is a bit ridiculous. The 16 Girls list is highly questionable.
“For crying out LOUD, some names should not be for this category at all.”
Odeyemi Ayomide Ramota corroborated his observation by adding that: “True sir, even the 16&under boys.“
On her part, Uwagbae Joshua Immafidon wondered if the tournament and the selections would improve tennis in Nigeria.
“Would this promote tennis in Nigeria? This is not true. Your selections are on what basis?” she queried.
As at the time of filing this report, our correspondent could not reach out to the organizers to find out if the players invited had all got to the National Stadium venue where the event was supposed to kick off.