Daniel Adeleye and Mary Udofia survived stern tests to emerge winners of the boys and girls 16 and under category as the 3rd Azimuth Shipping Lines Tennis Championship came to a an exciting end at the National Stadium, Lagos on Saturday.
Adeleye from Ekiti state recovered from a first set 6-3 loss to best David Ekpeyong of Akwa Ibom: winning the second set 6-3 before edging his hard-hitting opponent 12-10 in the tie break.
The preceding match saw Udofia getting the better of against Serena Teluwo also on tie-break.
Ganiyu Mubarak from Oyo State proved a hard nut to crack for Ekiti State’s Oluwaseun Ogunsakin 7-6, 6-2 while in the girls 14 and Under, Nene Yakubu kept her reputation as one of the star prospects of Nigerian tennis as she brushed aside Salamatu Haruna 6-1, 6-2.
Elisha Kwange defeated Satyam Maurya 6-4, 6-4 for the boys 12 and under title while Success Ogunjobi reigned supreme in the girls version with a 7-6, 7-4 score.
MD/CEO Azimuth Shipping Lines Capt. Owolabi Martins, pledged his unremitting support for the tournament which has significantly helped Nigeria retained its prime position in the region as well as the keeping it among the continent forces.
In addition to trophies, the champions and runners up in all the categories got N50k and N30k educational grants while players from the quarterfinals were also rewarded with prizes.
Tournament coordinator, Richard Inyang, revelled in the excellent organisation as well as the overall success of the tournament, declaring it would maintain its high pedigree among junior tennis tournaments in Nigeria.
The tournament, which had NTF president Ifedayo Akindoju represented by board member Funmi Adaku enjoyed support of tennis players parents association of Nigeria who amplified it’s no age-age-cheat campaign while members of the VGC Tennis Club Lekki which held the previous grand finale also trooped out for the final.
