Four tennis players to compete for ITF ranking

Accra, June 30, GNA - Ghana will join 19 other African countries to participate in the annual International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Confederation of Africa Tennis (CAT) championship billed for Lagos, Nigeria next month.

The tourney dubbed "the ITF/CAT 13 and Under Championship" is scheduled for July 9-30 with four players representing each country. The championship, which was introduced, by ITF and CAT last year is aimed at motivating young and talented players from the sub-region to participate in programmes that will guarantee ITF rankings. Ghana's contingent, which includes a coach and four players, will leave Accra on the eve of the competition to Lagos where they will engage their counterparts for the honours.

Mr P. K. Attah, General Secretary of the Ghana Tennis Association told the GNA Sports that coach Bukari Noah of the Winneba Tennis Academy will guide Kwasi Ayih, Ofosu Bamfo Kwabena, Linda Parker and Anita Cudjoe in the three-week long fiesta.

The General Secretary who was buoyant about the chances of the players said, "The team has what it takes to improve upon our performance in the maiden edition".

Ghana placed second behind Nigeria during the maiden championship that was co-hosted by Ghana and Togo last year.

The other participating countries are Nigeria, Benin, Cape Verde, Cote D'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Liberia. The rest are Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Gabon, Guinea, Central African Republic and Togo.