Wild card entrant and 16-year-old Oyinlomo Quadri, at the weekend, emerged champion in the women’s singles category at the 41st Central Bank of Nigeria Senior Tennis Championship, in Abuja, after a 6-1,6-0 victory over former champion and favourite, Christy Agugbom.
The unseeded Oyinlomo, Afrca’s Junior No 2 and ranked 158 in the world, cruised past Agugbom in style to claim her first CBN title and the N700,000 cash prize at stake.
Oyinlomo, who is undergoing training at the International Tennis Academy, in Morocco, also won the women’s doubles of the event after she and partner Tenu Michael defeated Agugbom and Blessing Samuel 6-2,6-3.
Quadri’s father, Sikiru, who was in Abuja to cheer her daughter to victory, said she was supposed to be in China for an International Circuit but was forced to play the 2019 CBN tourney after visa issues stalled her trip to the Asian country.
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Men’s defending champion Sylvester Emmanuel defeated Abdulmumuni Babalola 6-4,6-4 to retain his singles title.
Emmanuel, who also defeated Babalola in last year’s final, received N700,000 cash prize for his feat.
The men’s doubles title went Babalola and Shehu Lawal, who forced Joseph Imeh and Christian Paul to retire at 6-4, 1-0.
Alex Adewale beat Wasiu Yusuf 6-1, 6-0 to win the men’s wheelchair singles title while Kafayat Omisore defeated Chituru Nwazuru 6-4, 11-9 to lift the women’s trophy.
The Director of Corporate Communications Department of CBN, Isaac Okorafor, who represented the CBN governor, promised that the apex bank would continue to invest in Nigerian youths through programmes like the tennis tourney.
