The head coach of Oyo Tennis Association, Tirimisiyu Ganiyu told aclsports.com that the junior players in the state have made their mark in Tennis this year.
Ganiyu in an exclusive interview with DARE KUTI, revealed that the state players won the U12 categories of the CBN Junior Tennis Championships.
He said Mubarak Ganiyu was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the CBN Junior Tennis Championships.
The state coach said “The first tournament the Oyo Tennis players attended in 2017 was in April – the CBN Junior Tennis Championships where we participated in under 10, 12, 14 and 16 categories. In the under 12 category, Mubarak Ganiyu and Imole Afolabi placed first in the boys and girls events respectively”.
“Apart from that, Mubarak Ganiyu was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament amongst over 200 players who put in for the championships. After the CBN event, we went for SNEPCO and most of boys and girls got to the Semifinals and settled for bronze medals”.
“Last July, the team registered for the 1st Azimuth Junior Tennis Championships. In the under 14, Qoyum Atanda lost in the final to Gabriel Nyang from Lagos State”.
“Nyang who defeated Qoyum is well exposed, he has visited the United States for training tours and he is one of the junior Tennis players that represent Nigeria. I give credit to Qoyum for going as far as the final in the tournament”.
Ganiyu said despite the exploit of the young lads, they are unable to access training tours from local sponsors and investors in Oyo state.
“None of the players are on training tours. The only player that is within the South West for a self-sponsored tour is Mubarak Ganiyu”.
“I have a colleague in Ekiti state, coach Wunmi and I have to send him (Mubarak) there to train with other players. I feel if Ganiyu can play with them, he’ll improve with time. For now, we don’t have outside sponsorship”, he ended
