The NCC Tennis League Cup organised by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has produced the first set of finalists following the conclusion of the semi-final matches at the weekend.
The first round of semi-finals for both male and female categories were played on Saturday between Team Offikwu of Kaduna and Team Goshen of Ilorin while the second rounds were played on Sunday at the Abuja National Stadium Tennis Centre.
It will be noted that the four teams are Tech Vibes of Jos and Goshen of Ilorin from the White Group and Offikwu and Leadway Assurance from the Blue Group.
Four former champions – Christie Agugbom, Sylvester Emmanuel, Henry Atseye and Shehu Lawal donned the colours for Team Offikwu while Blessing Samuel who is on the verge of winning three national tournaments in a row represented Team Goshen’s challenge against Team Offikwu.
On Saturday, Sylvester Emmanuel of Team Offikwu defeated Ucheana Oparoji of Team Goshen 6:0; 6:4 in the first match while Christian Paul of Team Offikwu defeated Emmanuel Sunday 6-3; 3-6; 10-5.
In the female single category, Christy Agwugbue defeated Blessing Samuel 7-6; 6-4 while in the double men category, Christian Paul and Sylvester Emmanuel defeated Emmanuel Sunday and Joseph Iyoroube 7-6; 5-7; 10-8.
On Day 2, Christian Paul continued from where he stopped to inflict more woes on Ucheana Oparoji with a 3-6; 6-2; 10-1 victory. In the second game, Sylvester Emmanuel brought down Emmanuel Sunday in a 6-4; 4-1 victory.
Similarly, in the mixed double, Shehu Lawal and Favour Moses showed their class and guile to defeat Blessing Samuel and Uche Oparoji 6-0; 6-4
The third-place tie for the losing semi-finalists and the championship tie is scheduled for the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club on Thursday, December 6 to Sunday, December 9, 2018.
