Lagos Lawn Tennis Club agog for Governor’s Cup tourney

After suffering several postponement, SHOT! gathered from the tournament’s Technical Director, Prince Wale Oladunjoye that everything is in place for a hitch-free championship.He said due to the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, the organisers decided to make the tournament invitational because not many people would like to come to the country at this time […]

After suffering several postponement, SHOT! gathered from the tournament’s Technical Director, Prince Wale Oladunjoye that everything is in place for a hitch-free championship.
He said due to the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, the organisers decided to make the tournament invitational because not many people would like to come to the country at this time even as the Ebola was successfully contained by Nigeria.
Oladunjoye said since the tournament is now invitational, there would be no preliminaries as the listed players would go straight into the competition on Monday.
According to him the top stars invited for the tournament have since confirmed their participation and the Nigerian players listed to slug it out against the best players on the continent are also rearing to go.
“We are ready for the tournament. As you must have known, we have since held a press conference on the event and I can tell you that we are ready in all ramifications.
This year’s edition is invitational because with the recent outbreak of Ebola in the country, not many people would accept to attend the tournament. It is a known fact that we were forced to keep shifting the tournament date due to Ebola.
Since the tournament is invitational, there will be no preliminaries. The invited players will go straight into the competition on Monday. A total of $64,000 prize money is available and I can tell you that we are fully ready,” he said.
On his part, president of Nigeria Tennis Federation, Engineer Sani Ndanusa said the federation is quite happy with the government of Lagos State for ensuring that the tournament holds despite obvious challenges.
He said despite the challenges the tennis federation ensured that some of the best players on the continent of Africa are part of the abridged version of the tournament.
Ndanusa said the participation of the African stars will provide opportunity for Nigerian players to not only interact with the opponents but sharpen their tennis skills as well.
The NTF president also said it has been a busy year for tennis in the country as several junior tournaments were staged and more senior tournaments like the maiden NPA Open and Dalla Hardcourt would be held before the end of the year.
“We want to thank the Lagos State government that despite the challenges faced, this year’s Governor’s Cup will commence on Monday. We wanted it to be ATP rated tournament but due to the challenges, there will be no points but robust prize money for the players.
“The best players in Nigeria have been listed for the tournament and it is an opportunity for them to interact with their opponents and also sharpen their skills. I am confident they will do well because most of them have been camping for weeks preparatory to this tournament.
“For us, it has been a busy season. We have had several junior tournaments and before the end of the year, we are going to stage senior tournaments like the Nigeria Ports Authority Open and Dalla Hardcourt in Kano.
Ndanusa also disclosed that early next year, NTF will stage the Port-Harcourt Open in honour of its vice-president, Tonye Harry who passed on in 2013.
Some of the Nigerian players invited are Enosoregbe Clifford, Babalola Abdulmumin
Atseye Henry, Shehu Lawal, Otu John, Otu Thomas, Madueke Nonso, Omoile Samuel, Micheal Moses, Imeh Joseph, Balami Umaru and Paul Christian in the male category while Samuel Blessing, Agugbom Christy, Akingbade Ronke, Pam Elizabeth and Kienka Loila make up the list of female players for the tournament.