It was a week of magic at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos, where the Fusion clinic and tournament threw up some exciting new talents to the delight of lovers of the sport present.
The event, held over six days at the LLTC, featured over 150 kids drawn from all over the country.
Put together two years ago, the foundation started with the hope of encouraging children to embrace tennis and make a successful career from the game, and according to the organiser and main sponsor of the event, Fuad Bukola Quadre, brother of Nigeria’s tennis star, Oyinlomo Barakat Quadre, the goal has not changed.
He said the foundation would continue to host the event for as long as possible because it not only brings joy and support to the children, but also helps the sport grow.
This year’s event had six categories, including Red Balls for U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-6 and U-18.
Speaking with The Guardian at the end of the competition, Quadre said: “This year’s edition was a huge success, it went better than expected.”
This year, we had to work with a short time frame to make everything work so the pressure was enormous, but being able to conclude it successfully is such a pride to me and everyone on the team.”
He added that the foundation is a non-profit organisation that intends to improve on the tournament and get it on the main circuit.
Quadre urged sponsors to partner with them for the next edition to make it better and richer for the young players.
After six days of battle, the last day of the tournament saw Tesese Ahenjih as Red Ball winner, with Ali Mazid as runner up. For the 10 and under category, Mofifun Atilola and Tiffany Osho emerged girls’ winner and runner up respectively, just as Basit Adepoju and Mohammed Okandeji emerged the boys’ winner and runner up.
Atilola also won the girls’ U-12 class, while Osho emerged runner up again. Oseni Ayoola and Joseph Daniel were winner and runner up respectively in this category.
In the 14 and under category, Osayimwen Osaherun and Vanessa Inyang emerged girl’s winner and runner up respectively, while Joseph Ogunyemi and Kehinde Lawal took the winner and runner up positions in the boys’ class.
The 16 and under, which was fiercely contested, saw Sumisola Okajare and Enitan Ayinla as winner and runner up in the girls’ category, with Ayomide Folorunsho as boys’ winner and Kehinde Lawal as runner up.
Blessing Otu won the girls’ 18 and under class, with Destiny Okhinaye as the runner up. In the boys’ category, Taofeek Mogaji and Basit Ajao were winner and runner up respectively.
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here