‘With these lads, Nigeria will soon rule African tennis’
Sunday October 23, 2016 was a day every tennis stakeholder at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, came together in one voice to acknowledge that the country is at the verge of returning to the summit of African tennis.
Nigeria has for over two decades been languishing in the back waters of the game, which once threw up the mercurial Nduka ‘the Duke’ Odizor, who rubbed shoulders with the best players there was in the world game.
Since Odizor and the likes of David Imonitie, Tony Mmoh, Sadiq Abdullahi, David Imonitie, Remi Osho, Yakubu Suleiman and Innocent Mmodika, among others, left the scene, Nigerian tennis has been at its lowest ebb, with the country struggling against such minnows as Benin Republic, Togo and Congo, among others, in the lower ranks of the Davis Cup.
But there is a new wave of optimism spreading among keen watchers of the game in the country.
At the final of the Chevron Junior
Masters Tennis Tournament at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos, there was a consensus that perhaps the country has gotten it right in the quality of young players emerging from the different tennis programmes across the nation.
At the final, Michael Osewa defeated Augustine Stephen, to become the best young player in Nigeria. But the optimism was not only in the performance of the players during the final game, but in the quality of the youngsters (boys and girls), who feature in the latter stages of the championship.
Reacting to the performance of the players, veteran tennis writer, Everest Onyewuchi, expressed his optimism that given the right support Nigerian players would one day rub shoulders with their counterparts in the developed world.
“This is how the likes of Andy Murray, Serena and Venus Williams started,” he enthused.
“You know that tennis is for the youth and any player, who did not start the game at least before age six has no chance of being among the best in the world. I am happy that we have these quality of children in the game. It then means that given all the logistic support, they will mature to become world beaters,” he said.
To Tony Ubani, who is the Group Sports Editor of The Vanguard newspapers, Nigeria seems to have found a way through such programmes as the Chevron Tennis Clinic to unearth hidden talents scattered all over the country.
He said, “Our problem is not that we lack the talents to do well in any sport. The issue has always been in harnessing and nurturing the talents to stardom. That is something, which I think this Chevron programme has gotten right.
“The challenge is in seeing these players grow to become the champions their talents suggest they could be. That can only happen if all stakeholders came together to ensure that they are not allowed to waste away after doing so well in the junior category. There should be a monitoring system to ensure the right progression for the players,” he said.
Earlier, while speaking on the programme, Deji Haastrup, who is Chevron’s General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, said, “The tennis project is designed to foster the spirit of healthy competition and sportsmanship amongst target youths, build capacity and develop skillful tennis players that would be able to earn sustainable living from tennis and bring glory to Nigeria.”
He disclosed that over 320 children participated in the 2016 tennis clinic held earlier in the year.
According to Haastrup, some of the products of the NNPC/Chevron Tennis Clinic who recently brought honour to the country at the International Tennis Federation Under-18 West/Central Africa Junior Tennis Championship are Oyinlomo Barakat Quadri – the best player at the tournament; Michael Osewa, Angel McLeod and Sikiru Alalade.
The performance of the quartet – with two others gave Nigeria the top position on the tournament’s medal table ahead of France, Egypt, USA and Cote d’Ivoire.
Following his triumph at this year’s Junior Masters, Osewa, who started playing the game from the age six, vowed to beat the trend, which sees promising Nigerian players gradually dropping off from the game when they are expected to take their fantastic junior form to the senior level. He acknowledges that achieving greatness in the game would not be an easy task, especially with Nigerian government and corporate bodies’ unwillingness to sponsor promising players to the world circuit.
He said: “It has not been easy for me, but I thank God for my parents and Mr. Chris Enahoro, who continue to support my tennis development.
“The coaches at the Chevron Clinic have shaped by game so much that when I enter the court I go there to do my best without fear of anybody. With their help, I have been able to make my mark at the continental level. I am looking forward to moving up to the seniors and taking Nigeria back to the elite group of the Davis Cup.”
Osewa, who says his good strokes, backhand and forehand always confounds his opponents, believes that with Chevron’s continued support and better funding of the game by government and other corporate organizations, he would achieve his aim of becoming a player in the ITF circuit.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
1 Comments
🙂
We will review and take appropriate action.