Nigeria/Owoseni : “Tennis is a sport that can win Olympic medal”

Vice-President, Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, Mr. Yemi Owoseni has said that tennis is a sport that can win Olympic medal for the country if it is properly managed.

Owoseni said that the sport's inability to get sponsors has really crippled its growth, but he believes that with adequate funding and continuous media hype, the sport will definitely come alive again.

'Sponsorship has nosedived in recent years with potential sponsors citing the state of the economy as their reason for running away from the sport. I think the media has a great role to play by propagating the needs of the federation by celebrating the players as much as they can.  Tennis ranks alongside football as Nigeria's biggest sports and should be treated as such. If properly managed tennis can also win Olympic medals for Nigeria. But we need all hands on deck to make this work out,' he said.

Meanwhile, National Coach of the wheelchair tennis, Frank Termena, has expressed great joy and satisfaction with the introduction of wheelchair tennis to the 35th Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Senior Open.

He told  P.M.NEWS Tennis Special  that it is a great development which he believes will encourage the disabled athletes to perform to the best of their ability.

'I'm really happy with this new development because it is long overdue. It'll help develop the talents of these disabled athletes and also motivate the players to continue playing wheelchair tennis,' he said.

This is the first time since the inception of CBN Open about thirty-five years ago that wheelchair tennis will be featured as part of the events of the annual CBN Open.