Lea Dube of South Africa and Nigeria’s Blessing Otu have booked their spot in the semifinals of the women’s doubles category at the ongoing ITF World Tennis Tour Junior J30 Abuja, following a convincing 6-0, 6-2 victory over Nigeria’s Bisola Ogunkolade and Favour James in the quarterfinals.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) event, which started on February 19, is expected to conclude on Sunday at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
In their previous match, Dube and Otu received a walkover, while Ogunkolade and James also advanced to the quarterfinals with a walkover.
Speaking after the match, Otu expressed her satisfaction with their performance, stating, “This week’s event has been great, better than last week. I had an injury in my lower back, but this week is better. Unfortunately, I lost in the singles, but I’m in the semifinals in the doubles, which is great.”
Otu, who reached the quarterfinals in the singles category and the finals in the doubles category last week, is determined to lift the trophy this week. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I just want to play freely, because if you play freely, you expect something bigger.”
Otu praised her partner, Lea Dube, saying, “My pair is great, and she’s playing well. I’m comfortable with her, even though we met in this tournament and were paired together.”
In other women’s doubles matches, Toluwalashe Agunbiade and Ziyyadat Teniola defeated Seember Mathew and Sewuese Matthew 1-6, 7-5 (11-9).
The women’s singles round of 16 saw Etoro Bassey defeat Bisola Ogunkolade 6-1, 6-1, while Lea Dube beat Toluwalashe Agunbiade 6-1, 6-0. Jessica Togbe of France defeated Blessing Otu 6-3, 6-1.
The men’s singles round of 16 witnessed Lucky Danjuma beating Amdi Kane of France 7-6 (3), 6-3, while Mehdi Cherkaoui of Morocco defeated Iyanuoluwa Taiwo 7-5, 6-1.
The events are expected to conclude on March 1 at the Tennis Centre of Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, with a total of eleven countries participating, including Nigeria, Egypt, Great Britain, France, the USA, South Africa, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Morocco, India, and China.
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