ITF world tennis tour junior begins Monday in Abuja

FILE: Abuja’s Tennis Championship

Published By: Isa Isawade

By Aderonke Ojo

Shammah Makpa, the Secretary General of the Nigeria Tennis Federation ( NTF) says the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour Junior J60 will commence on Monday in Abuja.

Makpa said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the ongoing International Tennis Federation ( ITF ) World Tennis Tour Junior J30 in Abuja on Sunday.

He said that the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior J60 is the highest version of the J30.

“We anticipate to see more players participate in the competition and majority of these potential athletes are constantly searching for more competitive events to attend.

“Many of the countries that we hope to welcome to Nigeria have expressed interest in doing so, and many of them have asked for letters of introduction to help them obtain entry visas.

“They include China, India, U.S, UK and Germany in addition to African countries,” he said.

He said that NTF is still reviewing the online entries and will have an idea of how many countries and individuals have entered for the competition.

“Today, the entry on-site opens, and by evening we will be able to find out how many people have come to participate in the competition.

“However, my prediction is that there will be more entries on the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior J60,” he said.

He said that Kayode Savage, a Tennis Development officer has gotten a wild card to participate in the maiden edition of the World Para-Standing tennis championship in Turin, Italy on June 20.

“He is the only Nigerian I know who will be competing, in spite of the fact that this is a new tournament in the ITF,” he said.