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Tag: Michael Osewa

ITF/CAT African Junior Championships: Nigeria settles for bronze in doubles

Team Nigeria yesterday settled for bronze medal in the doubles event of the 2017 ITF/CAT African Junior Championships holding in Johannesburg, South Africa.

After the exit of Matthew Abamu and Michael Osewa in the round of 16 of the boys’ singles event, Marylove Edwards partnered Cameroun’s Lorie Lemongo to claim the only medal for Nigeria after exiting the girls’ U-14 in the last four of the championship. They were beaten by their Egyptian counterpart in the semifinal to settle for bronze medal being the only medal for Nigeria in the competition.

Abamu and Osewa who competed in the boys’ U-16 event had fought their way into the last 16 after winning their round of 32 matches, but they met their waterloo in the last 16 to exit the competition.

Like her male compatriot – Marylove Edwards waded her way into the quarterfinal but she met a tough opponent in South Africa’s Zoe Kruger. The Nigerian youngster fell 6-0, 6-2 to the South African girl to be bundled out of the girls’ U-14 singles.

A not-too-happy national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale told NationSport yesterday that the athletes gave their best but that their best was not enough to take them to the medal zone in the singles.

“It is the joy of every coach to win medals and when you don’t achieve this, you are bound to be disappointed. But in all, I think the athletes gave their best and what really worked against us was the inability to compete outside the country before the championship. Most of their opponents have featured in more competitions this year and I hope we can learn from this for future competitions,” Ubale said.

April 3, 2017
Mixed fortunes for Nigeria at ITF/CAT Junior Masters

It was a mixed fortune for Nigeria in the ongoing International Tennis Federation (ITF)/ Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) U-14 Junior Masters with the lost recorded by Marylove Edwards overshadowing the early victory of Michael Osewa.

Eight top African U-14 players in the boys and girls are taking part in the championship with Osewa competing in the boys category while Edwards and Barakat Quadri jostling for honours in the girls’ event.

Osewa handed Nigeria an early victory against South Africa’s Connor Kruger with a 7-6, 6-2 win over the South African teenager. However, the victory song was short-lived with Edwards losing 6-2, 6-3 to Burundi’s Aisha Nyonkuru, who is the number one seed.

The eight players in each category have been drawn into two groups of four. The two top players in each group advance into the semifinal stage.

The ITF/CAT U-14 Junior Masters is being jostled for by best African boys and girls tennis players in 2016 based on their results registered during the African U-14 circuit including the African Junior Championships 2016.

The Junior Masters for this year is organised in Nairobi, Kenya from November 7 to 13 at the Nairobi Club offering the opportunity to eight boys and eight girls to participate. The selection of the players was based on the two Players: ranked 1st and 2nd at the African Junior Champion that was held in Pretoria in March 2016 and six players that are the best ranked players at the African U-14 Circuit on October 12, 2016.

November 9, 2016
Nigeria battles Egypt, others at ITF/CAT Junior Masters

A three-man continent of Team Nigeria made up Michael Osewa, Barakat Quadri and Marylove Edwards are expected to depart the country today for a five-day International Tennis Federation (ITF)/Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) U-14 Junior Masters holding on November 9-13 in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, the team would compete against teams from South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Madagascar and host- Kenya.
He said the players were selected based on their performance at ITF/CAT-organised tournaments this year.
“I want to tell you that these players were selected based on their performance in all ITF/CAT Championships this year. Quadri finished sixth while Edwards occupied eighth place to make the top eight players invited in the girls’ category. Osewa was the second best player in the boys’ category to make the list of invited players for the championship,” Ubale explained.
He added: “I am confident that our players will do well at the tournament because they are now camped in Abuja in readiness for the competition while Quadri will join the team from her base in Casablanca where she is enjoying a scholarship at the ITF Training Centre.”

November 6, 2016
ITF lists Nigeria for World Team Qualifiers in Tunisia

Impressed with the performance of Nigeria at the last African Junior Championship, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has listed Nigeria among the four teams that will compete at the qualifiers for the World Team Championship.

According to the General Manager of Confederation of African Tennis (CAT), Hichem Riani, Nigeria’s selection was based on the team’s outing in the U-14 event of the AJC hosted by South Africa.

In the boys’ u-14 qualifiers, Nigeria will compete against Seychelles, Mauritius and host – Tunisia with the two top teams qualifying for the ITF World Team Championship holding in Spain.

For the girls’ U-14, host – Tunisia will battle for the two slots with South Africa, Burundi and Egypt. The clay courts of La Marsa in Tunis will host the qualifiers on June 3 to 9.

In the Junior Davis’ Cup qualifiers for U-16 boys and girls, Tunisia will fight for the slots against South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Cote D’Ivoire, Mauritius and Burundi.

For a national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, this development shows that Nigeria is coming up in the continent having beaten the likes Egypt and Morocco who are dominant in the game in Africa.

“I think this is a good development for us in Nigeria that our players will be competing against the best for the qualifiers and i am hopeful that we can make the final slots. In the past, it was the North Africans that used to make it to the qualifiers, but Nigeria’s performance at the AJC has helped to displace the North Africans and I hope we can capitalise on this and qualify for the main event in Spain later in the year,” Ubale said.

It will be recalled that Michael Osewa edged out three top seeded players to play in the final of the U-14 of the AJC where he was defeated by his Seychelles counterpart to settle for silver.

April 18, 2016
McCleod, Osewa, six others qualify for ITF tourney

Team Nigeria on Thursday secured the maximum number of slots for the 2016 International Tennis Federation (ITF) African Junior Championship (AJC) holding in South Africa in March with Angel McCleod and Michael Osewa leading six others to the continental showpiece.

The eight qualifiers emerged from the ongoing qualifying tournament in Abuja.

Leading the pack of players that will fly Nigeria’s flags in South Africa are – McCleod and Adetayo Adetunji in the girls’ U-16, while Christopher Itodo and Christopher Bulus qualified in the boys’ cadre.

Michael Osewa, Gabriel Friday, Marylove Edwards and Oyinlomo Quadre secured their slots in the U-14 event to complete the maximum number of eight players for any country to compete at the main AJC.

After winning her quarterfinal tie against her Togolese counterpart, Marylove Edwards told Nation Sport that she fears no foes as she is willing and ready to battle any player that may want to stop her from fulfilling her dream of lifting the trophy.

She said, “It was unfortunate that I lost my last group match to a Cameroonian. I did not really play well in the first set but I came back in the second but the third set was awful as my strokes were not just good and I think I played badly generally. The victory against the Togolese has restored my confidence again and I am looking forward to the semifinal tie today,” the 10 year-old pupil of Lagos-based Royal Group of School said.

According to National Junior Coach, Mohammed Ubale, the maximum eight players for the main AJC have been secured, while the target is to claim the overall trophy. “With eight of our players in the semifinal, we have gotten the maximum number of players for the main AJC and what we now need to achieve is to win the overall trophy to be able to confirm our supremacy in the West and Central African region,” Ubale said.

Over 10 countries are competing at the one-week tournament with the finals holding tomorrow at the Abuja National Stadium.

January 14, 2016