Ohunene Yakubu emerges first-ever U-16 singles, doubles title winner

Ohunene Comfort Yakubu, 14, has become the first Nigerian to win the singles and doubles for Under 16 African Junior Championship West and Central zone.

Yakubu made history on Tuesday at the CAT West and Central Africa Junior Tennis Championship in the Girls U-16 event when she won her singles final against Gnarou Anne-Marie Togolese 6-0, 6-0. She and her partner, Etoro Bassey, also won their doubles final against Ghanaian Tomegah Sisu-Makena and Tracy Ampah 6-1, 6-2.

She had to fight to the end before making it to the final. She played a four-hour long final set match against a very resilient Tracy Ampah, the tournament’s number two seed, before triumphing with a 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 win to meet Gnarou.

Yakubu is consistently paving her journey to legacy and becoming a household name within the Tennis community and globally within the coming years.

In 2015, Yakubu emerged winner of the MLMTP Tennis Open U-8, a feat she built on when she won the Junior Governors Cup U-10 and CBN Junior National Tennis Open tournament U-10 category in 2017.

In 2018, she again won the CBN Junior National Tennis Open U-10. Yakubu also dominated the 7 UP Secondary School Tennis Championship U-12, the U-12 FAAN Tennis Club tournament, the Kone Tennis Tournament U-12 girls doubles and U-10 MP Tiger Tennis tournament.

Yakubu didn’t rest on her laurels. In 2019, she emerged winner of the Chief Bero U-14 Championship. The athlete later bagged Chevron U-12 National Junior Masters Invitational tournament. She added the Chevron U-12 Tennis tournament U-12 to her growing impressive wins.

In 2020, Yakubu won CBN Junior National Tennis Tournament U-14 and the Azimuth National Tennis Championship U-14. She was the gold medalist, team event, U-12 African Junior Championship, West and Central zone, in Benin Republic.