Lagos Agog for 3rd Adewale Isa National Junior Tennis 

The annual Adewale Isa Memorial National Junior Championship will kick off at  the National Stadium, Surulere, from August 1 

Speaking at the press conference to herald the kick off of the competition after staging the first two editions in Kaduna,  Yinka Isa-Adigun said the essence of the competition was part of their late father’s legacy of developing tennis players in the country.

Isa-Adigun, who is the eldest daughter of the late national tennis referee, said it was in continuation of this tradition started by the family to immortalise his legacy,that this edition is holding in Lagos.

She said the tournament is an open event for junior players from across the country with the sole aim of complimenting the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) efforts at grassroots development of the sport.

On his part, the National Junior Tennis Coach, Mohammed Ubale, said the tournament would help NTF to select players for the national team, especially for international competitions.

“We are so excited at NTF that the family decided to bring the tournament to Lagos and we believe this would give us the chance to select players for the national teams. This is an open tournament for junior players across the country and we believe this will help to unearth a new set of talent for the country. 

“Outstanding players from the tournament will be invited to the national camp in Abuja for a three-week camping ahead of some international competitions later this year,” Ubale said.

Explaining the format of the event, the tournament referee, Arinola Isa, said the tournament will be competed in U-12, U-14 and U-16 with the round of 32 in a knockout format, while players that could not make the top 32 will battle for honours in the round robin matches as all participating players will taste action during the competition

The late Alhaji Mustapha Adewale Isa was Kaduna State coach and he produced many national and international players. Notably on this list are;  tennis Olympian, Yakubu Suleiman, Olympian Sadiq Abdullahi, the current national Junior Coach of Nigeria, Ubale Mohammed, and his son Nurudeen Isa, the Nigerian Master’s Champion in 2000. Alhaji Isa died at the age of 98 years in 2015.