The 2026 NNPC- SNEPCO Junior Tennis Championship gathered full steam yesterday as players tried to position themselves to fight for semifinal places.

In the absence of Mofi Atilola and Goodnews Aina, who have been excluded from the ITA Junior Circuit tournaments, Gloria Samuel from the Ekiti-based LEKMAK Tennis Academy is the favourite to win the Girls’ 16s event and she proved it in her second round robin match.

Coming up against Emmanuella Ogualu, a Nigerian-born Netherland based aspiring tennis pro, Samuel contained the hard-hitting 15-year-old to have scores at 4-4 before peeling off to a 9-4 win.

Oguala and Samuel are expected to emerge from the group for semifinal matches against Bisola Ogunkolade and Success Godwin from the other group.

The boys’ 16s has Heman Afaramai as the star player and he confirmed his rating with a 9-1 win over Favour Ekong. Joel Michael, Yahaya Isa and Dami Agunbiade are tipped to emerge for the semifinals planned for tomorrow.

The competition also features Boys and Girls’ 14s and 12s.

The NNPC – SNEPCo Junior Championships, run by the International Tennis Academy, is holding at the recently refurbished Mainland Tennis Club, National Stadium Surulere – Lagos. The grand finale is scheduled to hold on Saturday starting at 12 noon.