Top juniors return to tennis courts as CBN Open begins
Nigeria’s top junior tennis players will be given an opportunity to restart their careers after months of full and partial lockdowns occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the 2020 CBN Junior Championship. The competition will hold at the 3000 capacity Lagos Lawn Tennis Club from tomorrow to Sunday, October 11.
The tournament will feature the best players in three age categories – boys and girls 12s, 14s and 16s.
According to the organisers, International Tennis Academy (ITA), “Most of the juniors who had been on a forced holiday had used the period to improve their fitness and skill levels and have been dying for an opportunity to express themselves. This tournament will give them a new lease of life and put them in good spirits to resume school.”
The Academy said adequate arrangements have been made to ensure the comfort and safety of the players, adding that they would be housed in a dedicated hotel and the 3000 capacity tennis facility will be more than adequate to swallow the expected 150 participants.
“Happily, tennis lends itself to social distancing and the LLTC with 3000 sitting capacity and nine courts is a perfect facility,” the ITA added.
All players, their coaches and parents, it said, would be supervised to observe the extant protocols, adding that masks would be provided daily for them to wear when they are not playing, along with hand washing and sanitizing fluids. In addition, all persons coming into the club will undergo temperature checks without exception by qualified medical personnel.
“We have so much tennis talent in Nigeria and we cannot wait to have them on the world circuit where they can compete for the millions of dollars available as prize money.”
We owe them to do all in our power to hasten that process,” the Academy said.
