By Kenneth Madaki
Two of the three Otu siblings, competing at the 47th edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Senior Tennis Championship, progressed to the next round as main draw action got under way at the Package B Tennis Courts of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
Blessing Otu made a confident start in the women’s category on Monday, dismissing Bebe-Emmanuella Kelvin 6-1, 6-3 to progress from the round of 32 to the round of 16. The 18-year-old said she had studied her opponent carefully ahead of the match and used that knowledge to her advantage.
“Bebe is a very good and tough player. But I studied her game and did the job. Though she tried to come back in the second set, I punctured all her tricks to win the match and move on. I wish I can continue like this with the rest of my games,” Blessing said.
Her brother John Otu also came through in the men’s singles, beating Mohammed Abdusalam 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 in three sets to advance to the round of 32.
However, the third Otu sibling, Thomas, was not as fortunate, falling to Danjuma Isaac 6-0, 7-5 to exit the tournament at the first hurdle.
In other results, Michael Emmanuel defeated Ibrahim Aminu to advance, while Drimiya Mevi beat Seyi Ogunsakin 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
Mohammed Dahiru stopped Toa Ruby 6-3, 6-4, Sylvanus Agang beat Egena Peter 6-1, 6-1, and Michael Chima edged past Mathew Abamu 7-5, 7-6 in a closely contested match that could have gone either way.
Action continues on Wednesday when the men’s singles top seed, Abua Cannice, is expected to take to the courts.