Oshewa beaten as Zenith “NextGen” Junior Tennis Masters enters semifinals

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

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.