The one-week Rainoil Tennis Open ended with glamour on Sunday at the Ikoyi Club 1938 in Lagos, when 16-year-old David Ekpenyong emerged winner of the men’s single after beating Uche Oparaoji, 7-6(4), 6-1.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the championship served off at the Tennis Section of the Ikoyi Club 1938.
Ekpenyong won the grand prize of N1.5 million. Ekpenyong and Oparaoji had earlier won the men’s double, beating the pair of Biron Albert and Madueke Nonso 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.
In a similar trend, 17-year-old Marylove Edwards won the women’s single by defeating Anu Ayegbusi, 6-0, 2-0 rtd, as Ayegbusi bowed out of the game during the second round.
The women’s double was also won by the duo Edward and Ayegbusi, who defeated Toyin Asogba and Blessing Omotayo 6-0, 6-2.
The tournament, co-sponsored by Stanbic IBTC Bank, had 144 top players selected from different parts of Nigeria.
The Chairman of the Tennis Section of the club, Akeem Mustafa, commended Rainoil Limited for hosting the event successfully.
According to Mustafa, Rainoil Limited has over the years demonstrated unusual passion and support for tennis and has consistently increased the winning prizes of the tournament, thereby building interest in the game.
He urged the management not to relent in their support of the game and
congratulated the winners.
The Group Managing Director of Rainoil Limited, Dr. Gabriel Ogbechie (OON), said the investment of Rainoil in lawn tennis was borne out of his passion for the game and the desire to provide platforms for young ones to love the game and make a decent living from it.
Ogbechie said tennis was a game capable of lifting the young ones out of poverty and bringing them into prosperity.
He said top tennis players in the world had won over 100 million dollars in prize money alone, and Nigerians could rise to that level in the game if well developed.
Ogbechie further said the sport deserved all the support it could get and decried the absence of officials of the Nigeria Tennis Federation at the tournament.
The GMD stated that the Nigeria Tennis Federation ( NTF), as the custodian of the game in Nigeria, should show support and encouragement to any organisation that showed interest in the sport.
The Managing Director of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Wole Adeniyi, expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the tournament and congratulated the winners, players, and Rainoil Limited for the ingenious initiative.
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