Wheelchair tennis team intensify training ahead ITF qualifiers

[FILE PHOT] Wheelchair Tennis

• Quadre, Ogunsakin secure tennis scholarships

Nigeria’s Wheelchair Tennis Team is currently in an open camp in Lagos, preparing for the World Team Cup qualifiers and another International Tennis Federation (ITF) event holding in Abuja next month.

Ahead of the World Team Cup qualifiers, the Nigeria Tennis Federation (ITF) Head Coach, Frank Termena, two weeks ago selected six of the country’s best players for intensive training for both events.

Speaking on the team’s preparations and level of readiness, Termena said they would move to Abuja for a closed camp next week to continue the build up to the forthcoming events.

“We are in an open camp in Lagos preparing for the World Team Cup and the BNP Paribas Africa World Cup Team Event holding in Abuja from February 7 to 12, 2023. Not all the players are here though, one is in Owerri and another in Benin, but we will all meet in Abuja.

The men listed for the Abuja camp are Alex Adewale, Williams Okere and Wasiu Yusuf, while Chichi Nwazu and Ify Omisore are the women in the team. Termena said: “We have been under intensive training in the last two weeks and the players are better prepared now. After the festivities, they were rusty, but after the last two weeks, I can tell you that they’re faring much better now.

“They have built their confidence in all areas of play and we are good to go. The sky is our limit at the competitions,” he said.

Meanwhile, 13-year-old Seun Ogunsakin from Ekiti State is on his way to the ITF High Performance Centre in Tunisia on a year-long scholarship courtesy of his outstanding performance over the years.

Currently Nigeria’s no 2 player on the Junior ITF Rankings, he is looking to improve his overall ranking internationally.