Babalola crashes out of CBN Tennis Open
Abdulmumin
Babalola’s hopes of retaining the title he won last year at the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Open Tennis Championship was yesterday dashed as
he was displaced by Davis Cup team-mate, Shehu Lawal in two straight
sets: 6-4, 6-2.
Both players were
part of the Nigerian team to the Africa Zone 3 Davis Cup championship
recently held in Morocco and have also won the CBN tournament on three
occasions each.
In the other
quarterfinal pairing involving the number one seed, Sunday Emmanuel,
and fast rising youngster, Thomas Otu, the top seed showed class,
winning 6-2, 6-1.
Despite his victory, Emmanuel still commended the heroics of his opponent, stating that the lad has great potentials in him.
With this victory,
Emmanuel will be up against a familiar foe, Candy Idoko, in one of the
semi-final fixtures which, incidentally, will be a repeat of last
year’s edition.
He said, “Inside me
I play a good game but the games tomorrow will be tough because all
players in the semi-finals are very good and are all potential
winners.”
Meanwhile the
female defending champion, Fatima Abinu, continued confidently in her
title defence, as she dispatched old war horse, Margaret Oludunjoye,
who had to retire from the one-sided quarter final game owing to injury.
Over 200 players are taking part in this year’s Central Bank Open Tennis Championship
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