After almost eight months of absorbing tennis action across some states of the country, Team Tombim were weekend crowned champions of the inaugural NCC Tennis League.In the grand finale held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club and watch-ed by the creme-de-la-creme of the society, comprising the first vice president of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme and Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, the Abuja based Team Tombirin carted home the whopping N5m prize money after beating Team Civil Defence 4-2 in the seven match championship decider with the final mixed doubles match becoming inconsequential.
The hero of the final day turned out to be 22 year-old Christian Paul, who with a lowly ranking of 27 in the national rankings as certified by the Nigeria Tennis Federation, stunned Davis Cup regular ad former Nigerian number one, Abdulmumuni Babalola in the first singles and then immediate past national champion, Christian Enosoregbe in the match that clinched the tie for his team.
The Abuja-based Team Tombim had taken a 2-1 lead into the final day but national ladies’ champion, Christie Agugbom, squared the tie after defeating Sarah Adegoke in three engaging sets1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Team Tomirin asserted their advantage when Moses Michael outlasted Babalola 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the fifth rubber and Paul ended hopes of a late-fightback by winning the second reverse singles. For their effort, Civil Defence got N3 million.
Post a Comment