In the boys’ 16 and under, Michael Osewa and Michael Ayoola lost 7-5, 6-2 to South African Codie Van Schalkwyk and Damien Laporte of the Seychelles
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Ubale, alongside five players, are scheduled to arrive the South African capital in the early hours of Thursday from Lagos, but despite the absence of team captain, Oyinlomo Barakat Quadri, as a result of injury, the coach is keen to see Nigeria match its best outing at the tournament featuring over 100 players from about 30 countries
However, there was a big blow for the team, which topped the overall medals table at the Zonal Championship held in January in Lome, Togo, with star player, Oyinlomo Quadri, forced out of the week-long tournament due to injury sustained in a tournament in Morocco on Thursday
The clash of the two youngsters is the second straight final meeting, with Quadri triumphing 6-3, 6-3 in Abuja last year
The performance of the country’s players is rewarded with qualifications into the main draw, which serves off on Monday
Wilson Igbinovia was the first among the Nigerians in action to bag a victory by beating Maiga Quattara of Burkina Baso 6-1, 6-2 in the boy’s 16 and under category
Nigeria hosted the championship in Abuja in 2016 and topped the medals table
According to the ITF, the three Nigerians were selected for the championship, which will see the top players bagging grants to feature in international tournaments in 2017, due to their impressive performances in ITF/CAT organised tournaments this year
Osewa was selected for the five-week programme alongside three others from Seychelles, South Africa and Kenya following his impressive performance at the CAT/ITF African Junior Championship in Pretoria, South Africa in March but was stunned as his application was turned down with the embassy claiming that his documents were forged
“We had a decent performance as we won four of our nine matches in the World Team Cup,” Nigeria’s coach, Mohammed Ubale, said on arrival in Abuja Saturday
National junior tennis head coach, Mohammed Ubale, disclosed that the players, who have been in close camping in Abuja for some weeks, justified their selection by dominating the junior Central Bank of Nigeria Tennis Championship concluded last weekend in Kaduna
Osewa went into the match as the favourite having triumphed 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the most recent meetings between the two players, which was at the Top 8 African Junior Masters held in Casablanca, Morocco last November, but it was his opponent from the Indian Ocean Island that carried the day.