Zenith Bank Junior Masters: Oyinlomo Shows Her Opponents ‘Her Real Face’, Set For Finals

Top female junior tennis star, Oyinlomo Quadri, made sure to show her opponents her ‘real face’ when she took to the courts in their matches at the ongoing Zenith Bank Junior Tennis Masters in Lagos.

The youngster who is tipped to be the future of Nigerian tennis made no mistake in defeating her opponent, the highly-rated Toyin Asogba, 9-1 to head Group A of the tournament as she advanced to the semis of the championship.

Oyin, as she is fondly called, will however, have to be wary of will meet Rebecca Ekpeyong who upset Omolade Aderemi and bested Kaosara Adegboyega in her final match to secure second spot in Group B.

Oyinlomo Quadri in action during a recent tournament.

Favour Moses on the other will have to contend with Asogba for a place in the finals as the tournament reaches its final stage.

In other matches, National 18 & under champion Michael Oshewa was Thursday eliminated from the Zenith Bank “Next Generation” Junior Tennis Masters when he threw away a 5-1 lead against hard hitting Philip Abayomi who rallied to win 9-7.

It was a must-win match for Oshewa who was considered favourite to reach the finals as he, the national junior champion, had lost a close second round robin match to Tochukwu Ezeh in another close encounter which was decided by a tiebreak. Abayomi therefore entered the semifinal as Group A winner with a clean sweep.

Tochukwu Ezeh is favourite to clinch the second spot in the group as he faces alternate Mathew Abamu who replaced injured Gabriel Friday in the last match.

Godgift Timibra, top seed in Group B, recovered from his first round robin loss to win the next two against Augustine Stephen and Emmanuel Jebutu to head the group. Michael Ayoola who also won two matches placed second on a games won and lost consideration.

Abayomi will take on Ayoola in the first semifinals while Timibra will most likely face Tochukwu Ezeh in the second semis.

Former Nigerian Davis Cup captain, Kehinde Ake who watched the final round robin matches said he was surprised at the standard of play and how close most of the matches were.

“I think we have a lot of talent in this country and we need tournaments like these to make the young players match tough and raise their skill level.

“I really can’t wait to see how they stand up to the seniors later in the year,” he said.

The semifinal matches are slated for the centre court of the National Stadium Tennis Centre Friday starting 10 am while the finals will take place on Saturday at the same venue and at the same time.