Nigeria’s men’s master of clay, Henry Atseye and women number one player, Oyinlomo Quadre, has been crowned winners of this year’s Rainoil Tennis Open Championship.
Held at the Clay Court of the Lagos Country Club, in the men’s singles final, Henry Atseye proved why he is the master of clay in Nigeria as he defeated defending champion and number one seed, Joseph Imeh, by two straight sets of 7/6 (7/4), 6/2 to emerge the winner.
Speaking after receiving his trophy and prize money, Atseye appreciated Rainoil for supporting tennis in the country, pointing out that the tennis open offers Nigerian players the opportunity to get exposed to clay.
Also, defending women champion of the annual Rainoil Tennis Open Championship, Oyinlomo Quadre retained her title by beating number one seed, Marylove Edwards, in two straight sets.
Quadre, who came into the tournament as second seed after about seven months lay-off due to injury, proved too hard a nut for her opponent to crack, as she dominated all the sets to end the ambition of Marylove Edwards whom she was meeting for the first time in her career and ended the game at 6-4, 6-1.
Speaking at the end of the energy-sapping encounter, Quadre noted that she’s happy retaining the title despite seven months of lay-off.
“It was not an easy game because there was a lot of tension, but I played my best game and won against an equally good opponent,” she said.
In her own remarks, Marylove admitted playing against a very good player; saying that she tried her best but her best was not enough to dethrone her.
In the men’s doubles event, Mathew Abamu and Michael Chima defeated Henry Atseye and Nnoso Madueke to emerge winners, while the women’s doubles was won by Omolayo Bamidele and Oyinlomo Quadre
The Group Managing Director of Rainoil, Dr. Gabriel Ogbechie , in his remarks, said tennis is a sports he is so passionate about, noting that if it is invested in, it will help young Nigerians make a very decent living
He urged the players to be more dedicated and committed in order to improve on their game and thanked Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, for being a good host.
Winners in the men and women’s singles went home with N600, 000 and 500,000 respectively, while their runners-up got N300,000 and N250,000 respectively. Winners of the men and women’s doubles went home with N600,000 and N500,000 respectively.
