The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja is bubbling at present as the 46th edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Senior Tennis open Championship billed from 21 to 26 July 2025, at the tennis courts of the package ‘B’ of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja as announced by the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) serves off with main chat qualifiers ongoing as we speak.
Speaking in Abuja ahead of the championship on Wednesday 16 July 2025, the CBN’s Acting Director Corporate Communications Director, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, reaffirmed the Banks long Standing commitment to nation building, nothing the vital role young people play in national development ” over the years”.
“This championship has helped young talents , providing them with a constructive outlet and chance to showcase their God given talents and abilities on the national stage”, she said.
With it’s over four-dacade of existence , the championship which is on record as Nigeria’s biggest tennis tournament has produced stars that have represented and still representing the country in big international championships like the Davis Cup and the African Games thus become a cornerstone in Nigeria’s sports history.
Organized by the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), the tournament is a key platform for identifying and nurturing domestic future talents for the country and this year’s event isn’t going to be anything different considering the excitement in the air since the announcement of this year’s championship.
Notable among the celebrated tennis players produced by this Championship are, David Imonite, Sunday Maku, Veronica Oyibokia-Iwebema, Christy Agugbom, Sera Adegoke, Sylvester Emmanuel, Imeh Joseph, Oyinlomo Quadri and Mary love Edwards among others.
Meanwhile, the draw chat has 64 men’s singles and 32 women’s singles in each category while the men’s and women’s doubles have 32 players in each category not forgetting the wheel chair category which has 16 players in each in the men’s singles and women’s singles class. With the unpredictability being the hallmark in the men’s singles category, it will be a different ball game in the women’s singles category where it is expected to be a bull battle fight between two US based players, Oyinlomo Quadri, former CBN champion/ National Sports Festival champion and the high rising CBN defending Champion, Mary-Love Edward, both are products of the CBN Junior Tennis championships where they were actually discovered at various stages of the completion. They were nurtured and reigned supreme at various stages of the event before making waves at the senior level.
