ISRAEL TAIWO
Former Nigerian football international, Jonathan Akpoborie was at the ongoing Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship to have a feel of action from emerging young tennis stars across the world at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan on Tuesday.
The ex Super Eagles player, who was in the company of his tennis coach, Kayode Savage, was happy seeing a tournament like the Governor’s Cup taking place in Lagos State. According to the FIFA Junior World Cup player, Nigeria has a lot of young potentials to make it to the stardom if given enabling environment like organisation of international tournaments at home on a regular basis.
“Just like in football, tennis players need regular exposure to tournaments. There is no big deal about these foreign players, if our players can be exposed to the same environment like them, the Nigerian players too can be great. This is the imbalance we must as a people corrected. Since a year ago I have been training in tennis and from my interactions with the players I could conveniently tell you that these boys and girls have the potentials to be world beaters only that the environment is not conducive for them. If we can have as many international tournaments as possible the better for us. The likes of Thomas Otu, Umeh Joseph and others are players to watch out for among the Nigerians.
“To me, I have the passion for tennis apart from football, a reason I was here to watch proceedings at the Governor’s Cup. The organisation and the environment of the club very good. I could only commend the organisers for putting this show together, ” said Akpoborie who finished his playing career at Saarbrücken in 2002.
Meanwhile, tickets for the Governor’s Cup are available on the platforms of Ariya Tickets and Naija Tickets Shop. The tickets come in different categories. While Category 1 regular ticket goes for N1,500 each, the VIP category goes for N5,000 each. The tickets bought last for the two weeks event. The tickets can also be purchased at the venue.