Pius Ayinor
The Nigeria Communications Commission and the Nigeria Tennis Federation have jointly announced that the winners of the newly introduced NCC Tennis League will soon get the opportunity to feature in major ATP tours.
The promise was made on Saturday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, where Team Tombim defeated Team Civil Defence 4-2 to grab the N5m top prize money.
Team Defence got N3m for their efforts while the third-placed Team Kalotari of Port Harcourt won N2m. Team Ogun, who placed fourth, did not go home empty-handed as they got N1m. The competition, which began in April with eight teams, offered a total prize of N11m.
The NCC Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, who was in Lagos for the final events said, “We instituted the league to get our players ready for international competitions and also to raise the bar in terms of the quality of tennis we have in our local circuit. We understand that when you don’t play regularly, you will become rusty and therefore cannot play against the best in the world.
“We are already in touch with the federation to look at ways we can raise the level of participation. We are also in collaboration with the ATP to see how we can make it a point-earning competition.”
He said the NCC’s ultimate aim was to build a strong tennis culture in Nigeria.
The NTF president, Sani Ndanusa, added that the federation would soon convene a meeting of all stakeholders to map out plans aimed at actualising the dream.
Ndanusa said, “The first year of the NCC League is the test period and the NCC has promised to increase the prize money and also help us to launch the players into the Grand Slam.
“We want the winners to be given the opportunity to go on a European tour. That is, instead of giving them the prize money directly, we will map out their route to Italy, Germany, Sweden, England, and Spain, among others, to participate in the European tours.”
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