Henry Atseye and Oyinlomo Quadre have emerged men’s and women’s singles champions of the 2021 Rainoil Tennis Championship concluded Saturday at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Lagos.
Atseye showed why he is one of the best players as far as the clay surface in Nigeria is concerned as he defeated the top-seeded Imeh 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the N600, 000 top prize while Imeh got N300, 000.
“I knew he is in form as he has won the last three tournaments but I was determined to give him a fight knowing that I play better on clay. Even when he was leading 5-4 I never panicked. I know I can beat him and that was what helped me,” Atseye declared.
Quadre, the defending champion, had a tough start against Marylove Edwards who has won the last three national tournaments a d was the top seed and both players were levelled 4-4 before Quadre broke away to win the first set 6-4.
There was no holding back for the former Morocco-based player as he coasted to a 6-1 win in the second set which saw her pocketed N500, 000 while Edwards got N250, 000.
Chima Michael and Mathew Abamu won the Men’s doubles by beating Atseye and Nonso Madueke and they got N300, 000 while Quadre and Omolayo Bamidele each pocketed N250, 000 for winning the women’s doubles at the expense of Edwards and Aanu Aiyegbusi.
Gabriel Ogbechie, the MD/CEO Rainoil, expressed satisfaction with the standard of play pledging the continuous support of the tournament.
Over 160 players featured in the event which had over N6.1 million as prize money.
