Top Seeds Crash Out of CBN Tennis Championship

The 46th edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) National Tennis Championship witnessed major upsets on Thursday, as the top seeds in both the men’s and women’s singles categories exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage, Sport360NG reports.

In the men’s draw, tournament favourite Daniel Adeleye saw his title hopes dashed after a straight-set defeat to Emmanuel Michael, who outclassed him 6-1, 7-6 to book a place in the semi-finals.

Similarly, Khadijat Mohammed, the No. 1 seed in the women’s singles, was knocked out by Aina GoodNews in a fiercely contested match that ended 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

With both top seeds out and the defending champions not in the fray this year, the competition has now thrown the door wide open for new champions to emerge in both categories, along with the chance to claim the lucrative cash prizes on offer.

Elsewhere in the men’s quarter-finals, Abua Canoce edged past Yuflsif Abubakar 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, while Prosper Okokwo advanced after Mohammed Musa retired during the first set at 6-2.

Uche Oparaoji also secured a semi-final berth with a hard-fought 6-7, 6-0, 7-6 victory over Lucky Danjuma, and Bright Emmanuel completed the semi-final lineup after defeating Etoro Bassey 6-2, 7-5.

The semi-final matches were scheduled for Friday (today), with the tournament set to wrap up on Saturday with the grand finale.