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Tag: Mohammed Ubale

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

    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.

  • 40th ITF/CAT African Junior Closed Championships Fallout: Quadre picks ranking points to make top 300

    40th ITF/CAT African Junior Closed Championships Fallout: Quadre picks ranking points to make top 300

    Despite losing to eventual champion – South Africa’s Zoe Kruger in the third round of the 40th ITF/CAT African Junior Closed Championships, Nigeria’s Oyinlomo Quadre picked crucial 25points for her efforts that may qualify her for the top 300 in the junior ranking of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
    For making it to the third round in her first U-18 international championship, Quadre, who was seeded 10th garnered 25 ranking points while her quarter-final berth in the doubles event also fetched her 10points as the best outing by a Nigerian in the championship.
    As the ITF releases the latest ranking today, Quadre may find her way into the top 300 in the world being the best by a Nigerian in recent times.
    Like Quadre, Andiyo Inwang who also made it to the second round in the girls’ singles picked up 10points for her efforts to add to her ranking when the list is made public today.
    According to national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, the performance of Quadre is a pointer to the fact that with more opportunities, the teenager can improve more in her ranking.
    “I am so excited with the performance of the players because they played against the best in Africa and they were not disgraced in all their matches. With the performance of Andiyo Inwang and Oyinlomo Quadre, they have picked some ranking points that will aid their improvement in this week’s ranking. I hope we can continue to take part in competition like this so that our players can compete against the best and also improve their ranking,” Ubale said.
    The coach, however, said the heavy downpour in Tunis forced the organisers to reduce the matches after three days delay due to rain.  
    Quadre is expected to return to the ITF Performance Centre in Morocco to continue to hone her skills in readiness for next month’s AJC holding in South Africa.
     
  • Quadre breezes into third round of African Junior Closed tourney

    Quadre breezes into third round of African Junior Closed tourney

    Despite copping an injury during the nail-biting encounter against Egypt’s Habiba Khaled Aly in the second round of the girls’ singles of 40th ITF/CAT African Junior Closed Championships, Nigeria’s Oyinlomo Quadre had a soft-landing into the third round of the championship.

    The energy-sapping encounter brought out the best in the Nigerian prodigy as she dug deep to silence the Egyptian. From the start of the match, it was as if Quadre was in charge of the match but the cramp she suffered in the second round nearly scuttled the match for the Nigerian. But the spirited efforts from Quadre coupled with the pep-talk from national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, the Egyptian failed to unbundle the Nigerian.

    To be certain of her place in the last 16 (third round) of the singles as the number 10 seed, Quadre overcame the Egyptian teenager, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

    Also in the girls’ doubles event, Quadre partnered Gabon’s Celestine Avomo Ella and they formed a good pair to edge out Nigeria’s duo of Adetayo Adetunji Andiyo Inwang 6-2, 7-5 to quality for the quarter-final where they are expected to battle for a place in the semi-final against their Egyptian counterparts.

    For Ubale, the players had given a good account of themselves against strong oppositions. “I think our players just need more exposures to begin to win titles in Africa. They have shown in this competition that they are capable and can play against the best. I am so excited with their performance and I hope they can go far. They will just take each match as they come. Oyinlomo Quadre was really in fine form against the Egyptian and I hope she can recover from the cramp before the last 16 match,” Ubale said.

  • I want to break Serena Williams’ record – Quadre

    I want to break Serena Williams’ record – Quadre

    Nigerian Tennis rave of the moment, 13-year-old Oyinlomo Quadre is setting a tall dream for herself after watching American Serena Williams surpass Steff Graf’s glam slam record at the 2017 Australian Open. The tennis prodigy will return to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) High Performance Centre in Morocco to continue to hone her skills and the West and Central Africa U-14 champion said her modest dream is to dwarf Williams’ sister global feat.

    At the just concluded ITF/CAT West and Central African Junior Tennis Championship held in Lome, Togo, Nigeria’s prodigy, Oyinlomo Quadre shone like a star among her contemporaries. Back-to-back, she claimed the U-14 girls’ title and she became the cynosure of all eyes in the competition.

    However, the player is not ready to be carried away by the Togo feat, while hoping that she can claim more laurels outside the continent.

    “My dream in tennis is to break Serena Williams and Steffi Graf’s record of grand slam titles, as well as to set up a tennis academy in Nigeria. Apart from this, I will want to practice as a lawyer,” she said.

    Despite the laurels, Quadre admitted that the successes did not come on a platter of gold. “I cannot say that it has been easy because as an athlete, you don’t want to keep losing, you want to lose today and go back to improve and win next time. So every year, it’s new challenge for me, which also helps me improve too. Mainly, I want to be myself, have my own style that other people can admire. But I admire Roger Federer because of his calmness, fighting spirit and personality, which distinguishes him from others,” she added.

    Recalling her sojourn into tennis, Quadre said: “I started playing tennis at the age of four, having grown up in Lagos Lawn Tennis Club where I played tennis every day and also watched my siblings play. I am sure that by God’s grace and with hard work, I can achieve all my dreams.”

    Having trained outside Nigeria, the youngster admitted that combining sports with education is not an easy task. “When I was in Nigeria, it was not easy combining school and tennis because I had to miss a lot of tournaments because my education is more important than tennis. But right now, I live in Morocco where I study online and also play tennis. This has really been helpful for me to combine the two activities,” she admitted.

    “As a player, you can never relax and just thinking that you are at the top of your game because no matter how good you are, there will always be something left to work on. There will always be one of your strokes that need more power to spin. So every day that I train there is always something I work and improve on.”

    Quadre would remain grateful to people that have fanned her dream, which she singled out the late Chris Enahoro, whom he described as a mentor.

    “I am getting the highest level of support morally, physically and financially from my family and I am so thankful to them. I am also getting a lot of support from some tennis Lovers, members of my club – Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Sterling Bank and my mentor, Late Chris Enahoro who had been very supportive through the Chevron Project before his demise recently. I will continue to work down in order not to let them down,” she explained.

    In September 2016, Oyinlomo Quadre was nowhere near the world ranking, talkless of an African rating, but this week, she has become the highest ranked Nigerian junior tennis player listed among the top 400 in the world. She is now ranked 371 in the latest ranking released by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

    Also, the 13-year-old is considered the sixth rated U-14 female player in Africa while her profile continue to soar as she brace up to return to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) High Performance Centre n Morocco.

    Quadre amassed 125 points to rank 371 in the world ranking of junior female players being the highest point any Nigerian had achieved in recent times.

    However, national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale believes with more support, Quadre has the potential to become the first Nigerian to win a gram slam.
    According to national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, the performance of Quadre has continued to bring glory to the country.

    “I am so excited about the feat achieved by Oyinlomo Quadre because she has been consistent since she started competing at international level. She hopes to return to the ITF High Performance Centre in Morocco and this was facilitated by the immense support of the President, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Engr. Sani Ndanusa who agreed to offset more than 60percent of the fund she needed to return to the Centre while her family raised the remaining 40percent,” he said.

    “I must admit that she is a special player with rare talent. This kind of success recorded will surely inspire more players to aim high. In any world tennis ranking, this is the best Nigeria ever achieved at any level in recent times. I must commend the NTF for their efforts at ensuring that our junior players are exposed to world class tournaments and the ranking of Quadre is the result of the support we are getting from the federation,” he added.

  • 40th ITF/CAT African junior championships: Quadre gets second round

    40th ITF/CAT African junior championships: Quadre gets second round

    As the 10th seeded player in the girls’ singles event of the 40th ITF/CAT African Junior Closed Championships holding in Tunis, Nigeria’s Oyinlomo Quadre has been given a bye to the second round of the competition.

    Quadre, who recently made headlines after her performance at the West and Central Africa Junior Championship qualifiers in Lome, Togo, will now compete alongside her compatriots – South Africa-based Adetayo Adetunji and Germany-based Andiyo Inwang.

    Adetunji and Inwang got wildcards to be part of the championship, while Quadre was listed as one of the top-ranked junior players in Africa.

    As the highest Nigerian tennis player in any category in the world, Quadre is rated 372nd in the world and she will start her campaign today as she faces the winner between Egypt’s Habiba Khaled Aly and Zimbabwe’s Danai Tanya Chinamo.

    Unlike Quadre who had a bye to the second round, Adetunji and Inwang will start their campaigns in the first round as Adetunji battles Tunisia’s Ferdaous Bahiri, while Inwang will slug it out against Benin Republic’s Carmen Kpadonou.

    Over 40 girls are competing for honours in the singles event of the competition.

    For the national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, he is hoping that the players would prove their worth against the North Africans who are considered favourites. “I hope our players can hold their own against the North and South African players because they are always considered as favourites in most competitions. I am confident that our players can hold sway against them so that they can also be regarded and respected in the continent. I just hope our players can pick some ranking points from this kind of competition,” Ubale said.

  • ITF World Junior Ranking: Quadre is highest ranked Nigerian

    ITF World Junior Ranking: Quadre is highest ranked Nigerian

    In September 2016, Oyinlomo Quadre was nowhere in the world ranking not to talk of African rating, but this week, she has become the highest ranked Nigerian junior tennis player listed among the top 400 in the world. She is now ranked 371 in the latest ranking released by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

    Also, the 13-year-old is considered the sixth rated U-14 female player in Africa while her profile continued to soar as she braced up to return to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) High-Performance Centre n Morocco.

    Quadre amassed 125 points to be ranked 371 in the world ranking of junior female players being the highest any Nigerian has achieved in recent times.

    According to national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale, the performance of Quadre has continued to bring honour to the country, as the youngster was able to retain her title in the U-14 event at the just concluded African Junior Championships (AJC) qualifiers held in Lome, Togo.

    “I am so excited about the feat achieved by Oyinlomo Quadre because she has been consistent since she started competing at international level. She hopes to return to the ITF High-Performance Centre in Morocco next month and this was facilitated by the immense support of the President, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Engr. Sani Ndanusa who agreed to offset more than 60percent of the fund she needed to return to the centre while her family raised the remaining 40percent,” he said.

    Ubale who led the 13-man team to the AJC qualifiers in Togo, believes the technical and tactical ability of Quadre have continued to give him an edge in most of the competitions.

    “I must admit that she is a special player with rare talent. This kind of success recorded will surely inspire more players to aim high. In any world tennis ranking, this is the best Nigeria ever achieved at any level in recent times. I must commend the NTF for their efforts at ensuring that our junior players are exposed to world class tournaments and the ranking of Quadre is the result of the support we are getting from the federation,” he added.

  • ITF/CAT West and Central Africa Junior Championships: Nigeria dominates qualifiers as team event enters semifinal

    ITF/CAT West and Central Africa Junior Championships: Nigeria dominates qualifiers as team event enters semifinal

     

     

    Just like it did in 2016, Nigeria contingent to the ongoing ITF/CAT West and Central African Junior Championships dominated the list of players that have secured places in this year’s AJC holding in Pretoria, South Africa.

    Six Nigerian players led by teenage prodigy – Oyinlomo Quadri and Michael Oshewa ruled the girls’ U-14 and boys’ U-16 events.

    Despite her injury, Marylove Edwards also joined Quadri to pick her spot at the 2017 AJC.

    Ayoola Michael will join Oshewa in the boys’ U-16 for a place at the AJC while the duo of Matthew Abamu and David Dahariye will compete in U-14 event of the AJC in South Africa come March.

    In the qualifiers for the World Team Championship, Nigeria also dominated the U-14 and U-16 events with Nigeria beating Ghana and Togo 3-0 respectively in the boys’ U-16 with Oshewa guiding the team while Matthew Abamu spearheaded the boys’ U-14 team to overcome Ghana and Burkina with a 3-0 bashing. In the U-16, Nigeria will battle Benin while in the U-14, they will face Cameroon to decide the leader of the group.

    Winners in each group will face the second placed teams from other groups with the winners qualifying for the main qualifiers in Egypt where the continental flagbearer will emerge.

    A confident national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale told  staging.thenationonlineng.net  from Lome yesterday that the injury sustained by the duo of Marylove Edwards and Aderemi Omolade is taken its toll on the girls’ U-14 team.

    “Marylove and Omolade absence in the girls’ team has really affected the fortune of the team but I am confident that we can come out victorious. I am really impressed with the performance of the team particularly that we had the largest number of players that qualified for the main AJC in South Africa. In 2016, we had eight players that qualified but that does not mean we did not do well this year, it was only in the girls’ U-16 that we did not have players that qualified,” Ubale said.

  • Nigeria battles Egypt, others at ITF/CAT Junior Masters

    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.”

  • Governor’s Cup: Ubale hails Nigerian players’

    Governor’s Cup: Ubale hails Nigerian players’

    For making the last eight of this year’s Lagos Governor’s Tennis Cup, national junior coach, Mohammed Ubale has applauded Nigerian players while calling for more support for them.

    Ubale believes with more support, the era of Nigerian players playing second fiddle to their foreign counterparts would soon be halted.

    “I must commend our players for their performance this year because it has been a long time that we had such outing at the annual Lagos Governor’s Tennis Cup. It was Jonathan Igbinovia who had the best outing by any Nigerian in the competition and this year’s out players made it to the quarterfinal of singles and doubles events and this alone is a sign that we are improving. I must also acknowledge that the series of national tournaments being staged in the country may have started yielded positively on the players’ performance,” Ubale said.

      He however, tasked corporate bodies not to relent in their support for the local players as this would help them to put the country on the tennis world map. “I am appealing to corporate bodies that they will regret support these players because I must tell you that having worked with some of these players, I know they are endowed in terms of talents.

    “What they just need is that motivation to continue to excel and compete internationally like their foreign counterparts. Some of the foreigners taking part in the Lagos Governor’s Tennis Cup have featured in more than 10 tournaments across the globe this year and this has really exposed them and that is what our local players also require to match their foreign opponents,” he added.

  • 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.