United States - based Jonathan Igbinovia, Abdulmumini Babalola, Sunday Maku and Toyin Dairo hurled themselves to the upper reaches of success by securing promotion for Nigeria to the Euro-Africa Group 3 of the Davis Cup tennis tournament.
The quartet led by Coach Rotimi Akinloye beat Gabon,Mali, San Marino and hosts Senegal 3-0 each at the 2004 Euro-Africa Group 4 competition held in Dakar. The Nigerians, nigeriasports.com gathered, did not drop a set in the two singles and one double games which clearly showcased Nigeria's fervent efforts at returning to the pinnacle of African tennis.
"The boys put up a tremendous performance and I want to congratulate and thank each one of them including the coaches for not letting the nation down", said President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) Engr. Sani Ndanusa in an exclusive interview with nigeriasports.com.
"I also want to thank our sponsors like Heineken, Milo and the Central Bank of Nigeria for their support.The West Africa tournament held in Asaba in December last
year really helped our boys, because most of them took part in that competition. I thank Chief Sunny Odogwu for sponsoring the event", explained the NTF boss.
Promotion for Nigeria in the Davis Cup comes barely three months after the seemingly impossible feat achieved by the country's contingent in the tennis event of the 8th All Africa Games in Abuja.
Tennis pundits aver that Nigeria's profile in continental tennis is on the rise at the moment due to the determined efforts of the Ndanusa-led executive
board of the NTF.
The Nigerian team to the Davis Cup event in Dakar is due to arrive Lagos on Thursday aboard a Bellview airline.
Reports: Dipo Okubanjo
Published: 2004-02-11 20:48:11
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