Uwakwe Tennis tournament: Rivers, Imo, Anambra emerge Champions

By, Chinelo Kodilichukwu Enugu 

Rivers State has won the U-21 boys and the U-15 girls category of the just concluded 7th edition of Prince Victor Uwakwe Lawn Tennis Tournament while Anambra won the U-21 girls category and Imo won U-15 boys.

The tournament, which is the seventh edition with over seventy five participants from South East and South South regions, started on August 26 and ended on 31 at the Enugu Sports Club.

At the U-21 final played inside Sports Club Tennis Court, John Nubari of Rivers state won the male category after defeating his counterpart Precious Aliya of Bayelsa 6-3 6-2, while Chidinma Ezeh of Anambra emerge champion after beating Amieyeofori Timijaja of Rivers 6-3 6-3 at the final

Imo state Chimaobi Onyegbu defeated Abel Averkson of Rivers 6-0 6-1 in the final to emerge the winner of U-15 boys category while Fego Ayetuoma of Rivers State Beat Opuene Karina of Bayelsa 6-2 6-3 to clinch winner of U-15 girls category.

Speaking at the grand finale on weekend, the sports enthusiast, Prince Victor Uwakwe said he sponsored the tournament to help young enthusiasts in tennis to develop their skills.

Uwakwe said that many youths had passion for tennis but had no channel to actualise their dream of becoming professional players.

“This event is tailored towards catching them young to make them better in future,” he said.

While urging the participants to stick to their training, Uwakwe promised that the next edition would be better than the concluded edition.

In a remark, the Enugu State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Lloyd Ekweremadu, said that tennis as a sport required more attention as it had enormous opportunities to build stars.

Ekweremadu regretting that Nigerians were yet to tap from the abundant talents in tennis, encouraged the young tennis players to remain dedicated and reiterated the state government’s commitment to develop different sports activities.

“I am happy that tennis is one of the sports with potential we are interested in investing in. We will continue to work with the Sport Club and other stakeholders to see that tennis is developed in Enugu, for young people to benefit from it,” he said.

One of the winners, Isaac, described the match as a tough one but noted that he was able to triumph because of his zeal.

“I am 14 years old from Imo and I have been playing tennis for three years now. I want to see myself playing outside Nigeria,” he said.