Five Nigerian players qualify for AJC

At least five Nigerian players scaled the hurdles at the qualifying tournament to qualify for the main African Junior Championship, AJC, which will hold in Kenya in March.

The AJC qualifying championship, which served off on 6 January ended yesterday in Lome, Togo.
Speaking in a telephone interview with Daily Trust yesterday from the venue of the tourney in Lome, National Junior Coach, Mohammed Ubale disclosed that five Nigerian junior players have picked slots to represent the country at the AJC after a keenly contested tourney from players from 11 countries in the West African sub region.
According to Ubale, the players are Emmanuel Idoko, Joseph Umeh, Sarah Adegoke, Aderotimi Adetunji and Adetayo Adetunji.
“At the end of the competition, I’m happy to say that Nigeria won 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. It was a good competition where we had players from Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Senegal, Gabon and others.
“I want to particularly recognise the gallant display of the Adetunjis. Aderotimi and her sister, Adetayo represented Nigeria for the first time from their base in USA and they made it to the semi finals of the U-16 and U-14 respectively. The two sisters performed creditably well,” Ubale said.
The coach, however, said that for Nigeria to make a good outing at the AYC in Kenya in March this year, the team must begin preparation early as soon as they return to Nigeria today.
“The AJC is an important tournament in the calendar of International Tennis Federation, ITF. For us to get five players representing us at the AJC is a good omen that Nigerian junior players are a force to reckon with in the sub region,” he said.

At least five Nigerian players scaled the hurdles at the qualifying tournament to qualify for the main African Junior Championship, AJC, which will hold in Kenya in March.

The AJC qualifying championship, which served off on 6 January ended yesterday in Lome, Togo.
Speaking in a telephone interview with Daily Trust yesterday from the venue of the tourney in Lome, National Junior Coach, Mohammed Ubale disclosed that five Nigerian junior players have picked slots to represent the country at the AJC after a keenly contested tourney from players from 11 countries in the West African sub region.
According to Ubale, the players are Emmanuel Idoko, Joseph Umeh, Sarah Adegoke, Aderotimi Adetunji and Adetayo Adetunji.
“At the end of the competition, I’m happy to say that Nigeria won 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. It was a good competition where we had players from Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Senegal, Gabon and others.
“I want to particularly recognise the gallant display of the Adetunjis. Aderotimi and her sister, Adetayo represented Nigeria for the first time from their base in USA and they made it to the semi finals of the U-16 and U-14 respectively. The two sisters performed creditably well,” Ubale said.
The coach, however, said that for Nigeria to make a good outing at the AYC in Kenya in March this year, the team must begin preparation early as soon as they return to Nigeria today.
“The AJC is an important tournament in the calendar of International Tennis Federation, ITF. For us to get five players representing us at the AJC is a good omen that Nigerian junior players are a force to reckon with in the sub region,” he said.