Chairman FCT Tennis Association, Ifedayo Akindoju, on Tuesday, said that the association was raising kids at the grassroots level to replace old players.
Akindoju said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while reacting to the performance of Nigerian players at the just concluded Dayak Tennis Championship in Abuja.
All six players who registered for the event were knocked out in the first and second rounds.
However, Sylvester Emmanuel, Nigeria’s ranked number two player, reached the finals of the doubles event.
“We have a team in the FCT that goes round primary, secondary schools to introduce the game, we follow them up; we identify the ones with potentials.
“Once in a year we have camps for them at the National Stadium for a week or two, and it is like running a clinic for them.
“But the set of players we have now, in a couple of years, will not be able to play as they are playing now.
“So we expect the younger ones to take over from them’’.
The Dayak event is an International Tennis Federation event where players garner Association of Tennis Players (ATP) points.
The championship which began on May 8 ended last Saturday. (NAN)
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