Abuja -The national tennis coach, Rotimi Akinloye, on Tuesday in Abuja said the National Tennis Trials was the best way to select players for the All-Africa Games (AAG) scheduled for September.
Akinloye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) had quality for the AAG but had not been able to choose the best except through trials.
“This is the fifth day of the trials and it has been so good because the expectation is being met. We have seen a lot of quality play.
“The only way to separate these players is through the trials and by the end of the day, we will select four male and four female players to represent Nigeria.
“We have to be very careful here because we brought the very best that are around the country,’’ he said.
The coach said the Federation would, at the end of the trials, proceed to the second phase of camping where they would stabilise the team’s playing tactics.
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“The weather has been running smoothly. So, after this phase, we are going to move to the second phase of our training as soon as the trials are over.
“We will be concentrating on the players’ techniques and to stabilise their style to have an appreciation of the tactical aspect of the clay court game.
“This is because we are aware of the preparation done by our foreign counterparts and from what we have seen so far, the players will do the nation proud,’’ he said.
Akinloye expressed optimism that the players would do better than the country’s team performed at the AAG in Maputo, Mozambique in 2011.
Nigeria had won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the competition.(NAN)
