Winners from the first leg of the Tennis Players Parents Association UTR tournament played across the regions last weekend has emerged.
The regionals were held from February 19 to February 23 in Lagos, Owerri, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Minna, Abuja, Kano, Edo and Ilorin respectively.
Players competed in boys and girls 12, 14, 16 & youth categories during the first leg of the eventful TPPA-UTR championship which had a lot of debutants feature across the regions.
At the Minna centre, Bimbo Olowu emerged champion in the Girls U-12 category while Faiza Abdulmali came second.
In the boys event, David Kwange won the Boys U-12 title, leaving Yusuf Alhassan in second place.
The Girls and Boys U-14 titles were won respectively by Bridget Crown and Aliyu Salihu while Jamilua John and Adekunle Love settled for the runner-up slots respectively.
Destiny Tomizayi beat Sarah Ibrahim to claim the Girls’ U-16 title while Amir Mohammed took home the Boys U-16 title.
In Ilorin, Abdulakeem Muhammed emerged as the Boys’ U-12 champion just as Khadijat Wuraola came out tops in the Girls’ U-12 event.
Khalid Isamotu beat Akinwale Ajayi to the Boys’ U-14 title while Mariam Muhammed got the better of Sophiat Raheem to go home with the Girls’ U-14 winner’s medal.
In the Boys’ U-16 final, Folaranmi Fafowora won the title at the expense of Adam Isamotu just as vastly improved Ziyyadat Wuraola won the Girls’ U-16 title after beating Afeezat Mustapha.
At the Abeokuta centre, top seed, Kushimo Quzeem, led the pack in the Boys’ U-16 as Sunkami Oduwaye had to settle for second
just as Garuba Taiwo, secured the Boys’ 14 title, leaving Beloved Oluwande with the runner-up medal.
Omoyinka Ayinla deservedly won the Girls’ U-14 title, pipping Oyinkansola Adejumobi to the second spot while Kaosara Akindele denied Kimberly Ogundeyi her first UTR title in Abeokuta, as she won the Girls U-12 title.
Friday Testimony beat Emmanuel Ogungbe to take the Boys’ U-12 title and secured a spot in the National finals.
Gabriel and David Igbinovia were among the winners in Lagos centre.
Gabriel, the elder Igbinovia, won the Boys’ U-14 category after emerging as the top player in his group while Peter Ubiebi took home the runner-up title.
The younger Igbinovia was also emphatic in his final match against fellow Lagos Lawn Tennis Club counterpart, Mohammed Okandeji to win the Boys’ U-12 title.
Joy Emmanuel defeated Feranmi Adeojo to win the Girls’ U-12 title, while Ndifreke Emmanuel stepped up to emerge the Girls’ U-14 champion at the expense of Fareehah Adams.
A keenly contested Boys’ U-16 final saw Lagos Country Club emerging talent, Nathaniel Aluko shake off rival, Heman Afaramai, from the Ikeja Police College Tennis Club, to emerge the winner.
The Youth Category of the tournament was dominated by players from Apapa Tennis Club as Bright Emmanuel defeated her sister, Justina, to win the Girls’ title while Jeremiah Benjamin beat Ayomide Oduwaye to win the Boys’ youth category.
From Owerri, the pre-tournament favourites were stunned by some of the other youngsters who stepped up their game.
Chibuike Ezeah ensured that he wrestled the Boys’ U-12 title from Ebuka Onyemaechi while his female counterpart, Ebube Otuka won gallantly against Ginika Uwaleke.
The Girls’ U-14 winner emerged when Adachukwu Otuka did all she could to stop Blessing Nwosu without fail.
Samuel Ndem, the top junior from the east was beaten to the Boys’ U-14 title at the TPPA-UTR tournament by a much improved Ezichi Ewuzie. Chibueze Nweke defeated Ifechukwu Ezeah in the Boys’ U-16 final while Chinasa Lucky was the Girls’ U-16 champion after beating Divine Ndem.
The excitement from Kano knew no bound as the TPPA-UTR tournament was reaching their region for the first time and they made the best of it without fail.
Yusuf Abdulrasheed defeated Sani Walid in the Boys’ U-16 finale which was watched by prominent people around sports and tennis in the State.
In the Boys’ U-12 final, Yusuf Muazam was clinical enough to take out Abubakar Habib and emerge winner while Hussaini Abdullahi was crowned the Boys’ U-14 champion after beating Mahmud Khalifa.
At the Benin Centre, Osawonyi Idehen won the Boys’ U-12 title after getting the better of Zoe Usoh while fast rising talent, Gertrude Holzendorff won the Girls’ U-12 title at the expense of Osaretin Okhomina.
Great Bugor defeated Osaretin Oyegun in the Boys’ U-14 final just as Prosper Ohimai outplayed Ben Ose Omokhagbele in the Girls’ U-14 title deciding match.
The Boys’ U-16 title went to Armstrong Usoh after besting Osaretin Oyegun in the final while national junior tennis sensation, Lorelay Holendorff was too strong for Precious Ohimai in the Girls’ U-16 final clash.
In Ibadan, Mabubat Rasaki was the undisputed champion in the Girls’ U-12 category, defeating Barakat Ganiyu.
Ashim Ghazal had no problem in his match against Kehinde Afeez as he won convincingly in the U-12 title while John Israel battled Awe David before emerging victorious in the Boys’ U-14 final.
Onyekachi Ogumjiofor, won the Boys’ U-16 title when he defeated another incredibly talented player, Monday Segun in the keenly contested finale.
The Mambilla Barracks in Abuja which played host to the TPPA-UTR Regionals and saw Goodluck Terso emerge
National U-12 Boys’ champion while Charity Felix won the girls category.
Sharon Danjuma, won the Boys’ U-14 title after defeating Wisdom Onche while Salvation Alex took the Girls’ U-14 title after an impressive win against Blessing Peter. Marvelous Bolarinwa beat Any Umar to win the boys U-16 title in a close encounter over the weekend.
Action is still expected at the Jos, Port-Harcourt and Uyo Centres as they will be having their regional tournament on the first week of March, 2025.
The winners and the runner-ups at the regionals of the TPPA-UTR tournament are expected to compete in the second phase of the regionals to determine who comes to Lagos for the grand finale.
