Sylvanus Ayang and Musa Mohammed have secured their quarter-final spots in the DavNotch Senior Tennis Championships, which is currently ongoing in Abuja. Ayang’s fairytale run continued on Thursday, as he forced 14th ranked player Shehu Lawal to retire at 5-0, resulting in Ayang moving smoothly into the quarter-finals. Ayang caused the tournament’s biggest upset after he took out Nigeria’s number one player, Uche Oparaoji, in the previous round. Ayang will now face tournament qualifier Musa Mohammed in an exciting quarter-final encounter on Friday.
Mohammed also secured his quarter-final spot by defeating number seven seed Ilechukwu Iloputa 7-5 7-6 (8) in a pulsating encounter on Thursday. The result sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash against Ayang. Meanwhile, David Ekpeyong defeated Nonso Maduekwe 6-1 2-0 (retired) in the quarter-finals, and Henry Atseye defeated Philip Abayomi 4-6 7-6 (6) 7-5 in another quarter-final match, setting up a semi-final encounter between both winners.
In the women’s singles event, number one seed Marylove Edwards continued with her ruthless form, defeating Toyin Asogba 6-1 6-2 to book a semi-final meeting with tournament qualifier Azeez Akingbade. Akingbade caused another upset on Thursday, knocking out number eight seed Bunmi Are 6-0 6-1 in the quarter-finals. Omotayo Bamidele also secured a semi-final berth with seventh seed Blessing Omotayo after overpowering Patience Ogedengbe 7-5 2-0 (retired) in the quarter-finals, and Omotayo secured an upset victory over Aanu Aiyegbusi to earn a spot in the semi-finals.
The tournament, which began on Monday, will come to a close on Saturday.
