ABEOKUTA – Ayomide Folorunsho of Kwara State and Alice Paul of Ondo State humiliated their respective opponents from host, Ogun State, to clinch both the boys and girls singles titles, in the recently concluded Rock Foundation Under 16 National Open Tennis Championship in Abeokuta, the State capital.
Ayomide dominated the final of the boys singles event held at the centre Green Court of the Abeokuta Sports Club, thrashing Sodiq Kushimo in two straight sets of 6-0, 6-1 to win his second major titles in tennis while AW Alice in the girls’ singles final overwhelmed Favour Ijaola in two straight sets of 4-1, 4-0 to win her career first major title in tennis.
Reacting to the win, the highly elated Ayomide saying his target is to be one of the best players and while the ever excited Alice described the win as a major step in actualizing her ambition to be world’s number one player.
In the close Under 14 boys singles final, Sunkanmi Oduwaye defeated Waliu Hamzat 6-3 to win the title while Mariam Egbeyemi won the girls’ singles title.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Dr. Oludare Kehinde was full of praises for the organizers of the competition, assuring stakeholders of commitment of government to developmental programmes targeted at discovering more talented players
He expressed the readiness of the government in ensuring that the technical department of his ministry of sports works closely with coaches at the State Sports Council to groom and nurture talented players discovered at the tournament and prepare them to represent the state in major national competitions.
The Commissioner said government would always create enabling environment for corporate organizations, Non Governmental Organization and others in private sector to compliment the development of sports in the state
Also the State Director of Sports, Mrs Iyabode Rotimi appreciated the State Tennis Association led by Architect Adeleke Bada, Nigeria Tennis Federation and Rock Tennis Foundation for packaging the event for the development of tennis in the state and Nigeria at large
She was particularly impressed with the commitment of the Rock Tennis Foundation initiated by former player, Akanji Sunday Enitan based in the United States with the support of other ex-players including Akinwunmi Banmeke who decided to give back to the society, by organizing holiday coaching clinic for the children and packaging age grade Competitions to discover raw talents for the development of tennis in the state.
Other dignitaries who graced the event included ex-international and member of the historic 1980 Green Eagles that won first African Cup of Nations AFCON for Nigeria and President of Abeokuta Sports Club, Dr. Olusola Egbesola.
