The Nasarawa State Government has pledged its support for the development of tennis in the state.

The State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development , Hon Yakubu Kwanta stated this while declaring open, the Nasarawa Catch Them Young Tennis Tournament, organised by Maya Tennis Academy in collaboration with the state government in Lafia .

Kwanta represented by the Director of Sports, Mallam Uba Musa, said the state government is committed to supporting tennis activities in the state.

He said that sports development remains one of the priorities of the state government, pledging it’s support to ensure the success of the tournament.

“We are ever ready to support tennis activities in the state. Tennis is one of the best sports we practice in the history, and we are committed to developing the sport in the state,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)of Maya Tennis Academy, Hassan Usman Abubakar, said tournament was aimed at unifying young tennis players and grooming them from the national to international level.

Abubakar said the competition has attracted players from across 13 local government areas of the state.

According to the CEO of Maya Tennis Academy, Hassan Usman Abubakar, the tournament is a step in the right direction towards developing tennis in the state.

“The aims of this tournament is to unite the young ones and also catch them young through the basic way of sports, particularly tennis. We are trying to groom the basic players from national level to international level for the development and advancement of tennis in Nassarawa state and all over Nigeria entirely,” he said.

Abubakar commended the state government for its support for tennis development in the state, saying that the sport has witnessed a massive improvement in the past few years.

“Compared to the years in the past, we have gotten a massive improvement in tennis development with the support of His Excellency Engineer Abdullahi Sule.He has done a great job making the tennis to be at the level it is now,” he said.

One of the player who emerged champion in the girls under 15 categories , Leah Gabriel, said she was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the tournament and aspires to become a professional tennis player.

“I feel very happy, grateful and for the opportunity of letting me play on this course, it’s so thankful. I aspire to take this as a profession because tennis is a very fun game to play, obviously. I want to be like Koko Kov, so getting the training from my coach will inspire me to play tennis,” she said.

In the boys under 12 category, Joel defeated Sayeed 10-3 to advance to the final match where he will meet Eric who beat Umar 10-4 and 10-8 to reach the finals.

While Leah Gabriel Wandoo won the girls under 15 category after beating Honey Arinze in the finals