The oldest National Tournament in Nigeria will serves off on February 6
The junior edition of the annual Central Bank Tennis (CBN) tournament has been scheduled to serve off on February 6.
The oldest national tournament in Nigeria will be played inside the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club in Onikan, Lagos.
Murewa Egbeyemi (now UK-based) and Success Ogunjobi emerged as the MVPs of the 2022 edition of the competition.
CBN Junior Open is the oldest National Tennis champion in Nigeria
The tournament, which currently attracts over 200 tennis players nationwide and started in 1978, is the oldest national tournament in Nigeria, and it is sponsored by the CBN.
It is a week-long tournament with competition available in different categories such as men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, wheelchair men’s singles, and wheelchair women’s singles.
The Championship has in fact become a selection ground for the country in preparation for major competitions such as Davis Cup, All Africa Games, etc.
The CBN Open has helped in the discovery of Talents
The CBN Open has helped, over the years, in the discovery of tennis stars like David Imonite, Sadiq Abdullahi, Remi Osho, Sunday Maku, Veronica Oyibokia, Rolake Olagbegi, Clara Udofa, Margaret Oladunjoye, and more recently the likes of Shehu Lawal, Sunday Maku, Abdulmumuni Babalola, Sunday Emmanuel, Fatima Abinu, Destiny Da Silva, Taiwo Owolabi, Christy Agugbom, Sylvester Emmanuel, Blessing Samuel, Sarah Adegoke and a host of others.
The Bank in 2007, introduced the CBN Junior Tennis Championship to ensure that new stars are discovered and developed early enough. The championship is open to boys and girls aged 10, 12, 14, and 16 and serves as a feeder to the senior category.