Sports
Nigerian Players Upbeat Over Governor’s Tennis Cup
Nigerian players participating in the ongoing Lagos Governor’s Cup Tennis Championships have promised a better performance to make up for their past poor showings.
Tidesports source reports that in the past nine editions, no Nigerian player had reached the quarter-finals of the two-legged competition.
The players who spoke with Tidesports source on Monday in Lagos said they were better prepared for the current championships than the previous ones.
“I think we have gained more experience with some of us taking part in the previous editions. Our performance in the past are not due to a lack of skill but exposure.
“But 10 years in any continuous competition with almost the same players participating in three of four editions are enough for any player to have good experience to do well,” Shehu Lawal said.
Fatima Abinu said the long training the Nigerian players had before the competition would help to improve their performance.
“I think we are better prepared for the competition than in the previous editions.
“The Nigeria Tennis Federation organised training for all Nigerian players who qualified for the championships in Kaduna, Ado-Ekiti and Port Harcourt.
“These have prepared us for the championships and put us in a competition mood unlike before that we all trained on our own and not as a team,” Abinu said.
A former national champion and coach, Thomson Onibokun, said the lack of exposure was responsible for the country’s poor showings in the championships.
“It is unfortunate that we find ourselves at this stage; we are not progressing in the game at all, compared to the 1960s and 1970s when Nigeria dominated tennis in Africa.
“Now it is a shame that Togo and Cote d’Ivore are doing better than us in tennis.
“Some of our players do not even have standard equipment to play with. The only way out of this is to invest in the game.
“There should be provision for standard equipment, sponsored local competitions at least twice a year and our players should be exposed to international competitions,” Onibokun said.
Meanwhile, in some of the matches played on Monday, Nigeria’s Candy Idoko defeated Shtelfen Solomon of South Africa 6-1, 6-4.
Clifford Enosoregbe of Nigeria defeated compatriot Henry Atseye, 6-4, 7-5 and Abuldmumuni Babalola beat Valentin Sanon of Cote d’Ivore 6-4, 6-2.
Kingsley Enosoregbe, also of Nigeria, defeated compatriot Samuel Omoile 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, while Nigeria’s Lawal Shehu lost to Ruan Roelofese of South Africa 6-1, 6-3.
In the women’s category, Fatima Abinu beat Alexandra Riley of the U.S. 6-1, 6-4 and Esther Masuri of Israel defeated Natalia Piqion of France 6-1, 6-1.
Nigeria’s Blessing Samuel defeated her compatriot, Oluwaseun Ogundare, 6-1, 6-4 in the last game.
Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, in Rivers State, will be at the centre stage on Wednesday as the VC Cup final, both male and female categories will be played at the prestigious Stadium in the school.
The both final matches promises to be exciting, as arrangements have been concluded to watch one of the best VC football Cup finals in the history.
VC Cup tournament is an annual sporting event that involves all students in various facilities.
According to the Chief coach of the University football team, David Egbiri, the female will final will kick off 2pm between faculty of Human Kinetics and Management Sciences, while the male will kick off by 4pm between Social Science and Natural Applied Science
Egbiri, who was former coach of Abiola Babe FC and Concord FC, lauded the Vice Chancellor. Prof. Okechukwu Onuchukwu for releasing funds on sports development, saying that he has never also failed the School in terms of infrastructural development.
“The VC who is also a sports personality has not failed to release funds for this tournament, apart from that he has not also disappointed in terms of developing the school in all ramifications.
“I want to say that my major reason for accepting to coach the school football team is to develop the youth through sports”, Coach Egbiri said.
The former Eagle Cement Coach, explained that he was not encouraged the way and manner the young ones are going about sports because there is no discipline and so much quest for quick money.
” Honestly, the way young players are looking money was just too much. Looking for short cuts always to make money that is more reason some of them don’t go far and end up badly
” In our days we first of all think about how to make name and we are passionate about it. I went to school and saw myself in sports, while my initial intention was to read electrical engineering” he stated.
Tonye Orabere
The Delta State Sports Commission has come under scrutiny following the state’s disappointing performance at the just-concluded National Youth Games (NYG) in Asaba, where Lagos dethroned Delta to clinch top spot.
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, visibly displeased with both the poor outing of Team Delta and the organizational lapses witnessed during the Games, summoned an emergency meeting with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) immediately after the closing ceremony.
Delta, which had dominated the NYG by finishing first in the last eight editions, only managed second place this time — a result the governor described as “totally unacceptable,” especially given the state’s significant investment in the event.
According to a reliable source privy to the meeting, Governor Oborevwori expressed deep disappointment, stressing that his administration had provided all necessary support to the Sports Commission and the LOC to ensure Delta retained its traditional top position.
In a decisive move, the governor demoted his Executive Assistant on Sports and former Director-General of the Sports Commission, Festus Owhojero, under whose leadership the Games were organized. Owhojero was reassigned from Executive Assistant (EA) to Senior Special Assistant (SSA) with immediate effect.
The governor’s action, our source revealed, reflects his zero-tolerance stance on incompetence and underperformance within his administration. Mr. Owhojero thus becomes the first high-profile casualty of the governor’s resolve to reposition sports in Delta State.
Furthermore, Oborevwori directed the Sports Commission and LOC officials to submit a detailed report on the Games, outlining what went wrong and providing recommendations for improvement. The governor emphasized the need for urgent reforms to restore Delta’s dominance, especially as the state is set to host the next edition of the Games under an existing memorandum of understanding (MoU).
The Nigeria Football Federation has distanced itself from a post-match statement that criticised some Super Eagles players following the team’s 1-1 draw with South Africa in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
The statement, issued by the NFF’s Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, singled out forward Cyriel Dessers and captain William Troost-Ekong for criticism.
It accused Dessers of being sluggish and faulted Ekong for the own goal that gave Bafana Bafana the lead.
However, NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, said on Wednesday that the statement did not represent the official position of the Federation.
“I saw the release just like everyone else did. Nobody in the Federation is happy with it,” Sanusi said.
“The NFF did not authorise that statement. We have great respect for all the players. Blaming an individual for a team result is unfair.”
He added that the Federation regards the South Africa match as a collective effort and will not support attempts to scapegoat any player.
“When we win, it’s a team victory. When we lose, it’s also collective. No player should be singled out,” Sanusi said.
He described the targeted criticism of Troost-Ekong as unjustified, noting that the defender had previously been celebrated as the Most Valuable Player at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire.
“It was an unfortunate own goal. His intention was to clear the ball. Anyone who knows football understands that such things happen,” he said..
Sanusi also expressed confidence in the team’s unity, revealing that efforts were ongoing to regroup and refocus ahead of the remaining qualifiers and AFCON.
“Our house is in order. We’re preparing for the rest of the qualifiers and the AFCON in Morocco,” he said.
“There’s no problem with our players or coaching crew. Our relationship remains cordial. The government and the NFF are proud of the players’ efforts.”
The Federation had initially praised Calvin Bassey for his equalising goal and lamented the team’s failure to convert second-half chances.
But Sanusi made it clear that internal disciplinary action would be taken over the unauthorised release.
“I can assure you the NFF will take action on the matter,” he said.
Nigeria currently sit third in Group C of the CAF World Cup qualifiers with 11 points from eight matches. South Africa lead the group with 17 points.
The Super Eagles must now win their remaining games against Lesotho and Benin Republic and hope other results go their way to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.