Abubakar, Khadijat win Zenith Bank Next Gen Masters

Yusuf Abubakar and Khadijat Mohammed at the weekend won the boys’ and girls’ singles respectively of the Zenith Bank Next Generation Masters, which was held at Ikoyi Club, Lagos.   Abubakar, from Abuja’s Mambilla Barracks Tennis Programme, had been outstanding all week and followed through with a 7-6, 6-4 upset victory over number one seed, Canice Abua, from the Life Camp Abuja Tennis Club. Khadijat, also from Abuja, on the other hand, recovered from an opening round robin loss to Etoro Bassey to beat Success Ogunjobi from Ekiti with an emphatic 6-0, 6-1 score in the final.

Ifeanyi Ezeokoli, a member of the Ikoyi Club, who had watched some of the matches, including the finals, gifted the players the sum of N300, 000, which will go towards opening an account for all the players.   “I am passionate about the game of tennis and I am so impressed with the level of skill displayed by all these very young players,” Ezeokoli said. He added that the donation is his way of appreciating the work done to give them a platform to showcase their talent.   Earlier, Head, Retail Banking, Zenith Bank, Lanre Oladimeji, who represented the Group Managing Director, Dr Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said the bank was happy with the tournament’s impact in motivating the top juniors to do well at the senior level. He expressed confidence that in the coming years, the tournament will propel them to do well in the world tennis circuit. The six-day tournament was organised by the International Tennis Academy.

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