By; Ayo Ojedokun, Lagos.
Following the impressive outing of the country at the 2016 ITF/CAT Africa Junior Championship in Pretoria, South Africa, the ITF has listed the country’s U-14 boy’s team for the World Team Cup African qualifiers.
According to a statement by the Confederation of African Tennis made available to NNSports in Lagos, the qualifier which is scheduled for June 3 – 18 at the Clay Court of La Mara Tunis, Tunisia, will see Nigeria jostling alongside Seychelles, Mauritius and host Tunisia for the sole ticket of the main tournament billed for Spain later in the year.
South Africa and Kenya are the alternate teams in order of priority.
In his reaction, President of the Federation, Engineer Sani Ndanusa hailed the listing of the junior teams on the ITF Qualifier, saying, it is a reflection of the progress made by the tennis Federation at the junior level in recent years.
“And we can only get better if all hands are on deck” hinted the President. He enjoined corporate and individual support for tennis in Nigeria.
“Good a thing our country was listed as Africa’s first alternate ahead of Kenya for the Junior Davis Cup for the Boy’s U-16 which was as a result of Nigeria’s best outing in the history of the tournament”.
South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritius and Tunisia are listed for the qualifiers accordingly.
However, Michael Sewer was Nigeria’s star at the 11-day tournament where he reached the final before losing to Damien Laporte of Seychelles.
