By Francis Ajuonuma
After posting an outing performance that saw him win the 3rd edition of Alhaji Adewale Isa National Junior Tennis Open Championships at the weekend in Lagos, Mubarak Ganiyu has now turned his focus on the ongoing International Tennis Federation(ITF) Junior championships in Ghana.

Mubarak, a Senior Secondary School (SSS 2) student of Allahu-lI Ayu Model College, Ibadan, Oyo State, defeated Lawal Nubari 6-3, 6-2 in the U-16 boys final decided at the centre court of the tennis complex, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos to emerge as the champion of the Alhaji Adewale Isa National Junior Tennis Open Championships.

Speaking after the energy sabbing final, Mubarak gave kudos to Nubari for stretching him to the limit, describing him as a very good player.
“He’s a very good player because he actually beat the number one seed in the semi-finals and many people believe that was going to happen in the final but I changed the game around and he couldn’t understand what was going on in the first and second sets.

“Yes, I think after this tournament i’m going to Ghana may be upper next for the J4 which started today (August 6,2022). Ghana is hosting It for four weeks, so I’m playing two weeks, likely i’m going to Ghana.

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“It’s going to be tough because it’s an international tournament, people from Europe, Russia and all those countries, they are coming around to play in the tournament. I just need to train hard, be focused and be able to compete with the best players in the world because presently, I don’t have any ranking in the world, so this is going to be my first ITF tournament. So, I just need to train hard because training hard is the best and that is how you can win a tournament and I’m determined to make my mark in Ghana,” Mubarak said.

Earlier in the girls U-16, Bright Emmanuela beat Eunice Iorlumun 6-1, 6-3.
In the boys’ U-14, Bello Yauzar beat Onyekachi Oguejiifor 7-6, 0-6, 10-7 while in the female game, Kadiya Mohammed beat Mary Iorlumun 4-0, 4-1.

The U-12 boys title went to Amasiani Chukwubuikem, who beat Oluwaseun Ogunsakin 4-2, 4-1 while for the girls, Lorelay Hozendoff beat Temilola Samuel 4-0, 4-2