Nigeria Secure Promotion to Davis Cup World Group II
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Nigeria’s stocks in global tennis rose yesterday with the promotion of the country to the Davis Cup World Group II after defeating Ghana in the first two rubbers of the Group III Africa Qualifier event in Abuja.
The Nigerian pair of Christopher Bulus and Michael Emmanuel defeated the Ghanaian pair of Abraham Asaba and Isaac Nortey with identical score lines.
Bulus secured the first win with a 6-3, 6-2 win before Emmanuel finished the second rubber with the same result.
Regardless of the result in the third rubber, Nigeria has surely secured promotion to World Group II after the five-day competition ended late yesterday.
The promotion to World Group II is a big deal for Nigeria which stagnated in Group IV for a long time until last year when the country was moved to Group III. To reach Group II in barely a year shows the quality of work that must have gone into preparing the Nigerian players for the just-ended qualifiers in Abuja.
The Davis Cup administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) provided three countries the opportunity to gain promotion to Group II. Now, the chance beckons for Nigeria to go the Group I.
While Zimbabwe and Namibia look sure-bet as the two other countries that will join Nigeria in World Group II, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are to be relegated to Group IV while Benin Republic will remain in Africa Group III.
Former Nigerian tennis great, Sadiq Abdullahi was amongst the first sets of tennis enthusiasts to send congratulatory messages to the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) headed by Ifedayo Akindoju.
“Congratulations Team Nigeria! Congrats to Dayo (Akindoju) and his board. What does this promotion to the next phase of the Africa Davis Cup Zonal competition mean for tennis Nigeria in 2025 and beyond is more work!” wrote the former ATP Tour player now an adjunct professor at Florida International University and Miami Dade College in USA.
