LAGOS – Kehinde Ajayi, a tennis coach, on Friday said that the ongoing Lagos State Sports Festival would enhance medal prospects of tennis at the forthcoming DAWN Games and National Sports Festival.
The Ibile Games which began on April 30 was meant to prepare the state’s athletes for the South West Secondary School Sports Festival, tagged Development Agenda for western Nigeri (DAWN) Games.
The Games scheduled for May 16 to May 22, is to create a forum for youths in the region to harness their sporting talents and to encourage mass participation in sports at the grassroots.
It will also prepare athletes for the 19th National Sport Festival, tagged, “Paradise Games,” holding from Nov. 23 to Dec. 3 in Calabar, Cross River.
Ajayi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the festival would sharpen the competitive edge of the athletes in the countdown to the festival.
According to him, the junior tennis athletes have shown great potential which should be capitalised on by the authorities.
“The standard of play displayed here today by these players, is to emphasis the fact that they will go for gold medals at the sports festival in December.
“They displayed high intelligence in the game because they are blessed with sharp understanding and high assimilation of sign languages.
“Any coach who wants to succeed in training them must be patient enough to bring out the best in them,’’ he said.
The coach said that the athletes needed more encouragement from the government for them to thrive in sports.
Ajayi commended the state government for giving the athletes an opportunity to be part of the optional sports for the festival.
Meanwhile, in the junior boys’ tennis event, number one seed, Micheal Ayoola, 13, from Ebute-Elefun Senior High School, Lagos Island, defeated unseeded Oyeyemi Agunbiade, 13, of Government College, Victoria Island, 4-1, 4-0 to qualify to the quarter-final.
Martins Abamu, 15 of Patrick and Peter Comprehensive College, Ilasa, seeded two beat unseeded Joshua Oluwashinayomi, 8, of Women Society Primary School, Akoka, 4-0, 4-0 to also qualify. (NAN)