A lot is at stake in the second edition of the Prime Atlantic Squash Open, which served off at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, on Tuesday in Lagos.
Apart from the N2 million prize money, players will seek Professional Squash Association (PSA) ranking points.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that defending champions Onaopemipo Adegoke and Rofiat Abudulazeez are ranked No. 1 in the male and female categories.
Friday Daniel defeated James Awotundun 3-0 in the opening match of the U-16 category, while Umar Musa beat Lanre Yusuf 3-1 in the best of five games.
Yusuf Ayomide trashed David Opiye 3-0, while Timilehin Oladapo walked over Daniel Enaifoghe. Emmanuel Itubo also walked over Ibrahim Abdulhameed, just as Monday Bright also walked over Okwomaro Sean.
Adegoke, who won the maiden edition of the tournament in 2022, told NAN he would give his best and ensure he continued his winning streak by retaining his title as well as shoring up his PSA ranking.
“I hope I can repeat my 2022 performance again this year, but I know it is not going to be easy because everybody is playing well.
“After winning last weekend’s tournament, my ranking moved from 180 to over 160, and I hope I can win again to continue to rise.
“I’d like to applaud Lagos State for always putting together PSA ranking tournaments that help us increase our rankings.
“Winning cash prizes is good, but for the genuine development of squash, organising PSA-certified tournaments is the ultimate,” Adegoke said.
The former national junior champion noted that the regular tournaments being staged across the country had helped the world ranking of players, as some of them had improved their world ratings.
“I am happy that this year we have the opportunity to play more tournaments, which have really helped our ranking, and for me, this is a good development for the sport and the players.
“We hope this can also help us ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games, which had included squash among the events listed for the games in Los Angeles, United States,” he added.
Sunkanmi Akere, the Vice Chairman of the Lagos State Squash Association (LSSA), who declared the tournament open, urged the players to maintain a high level of discipline and focus on improving their PSA rankings.
“This is what our players need to be at par with their foreign counterparts to brush up their competitive skills,” he said.
READ ALSO: Nigerian Squash tournament will improve players’ world ranking
Tomi Falase, LSSA’s chairman, emphasised that the tournament would help the young players showcase their talents and pick up ranking points.
“This is part of promoting squash as well as developing our players.
“We have been having tournaments back-to-back. We had the international classics, through which we brought players from about nine countries: the UK, France, Germany, and India, amongst others.
“Our players have been able to showcase themselves, and we hope that this tournament will help them to shape up for major international tournaments as well as improve their ranking fortunes,” he said.
Falase applauded the management of Prime Atlantic for their support while charging other corporate bodies and private individuals to key into sponsorship of sports to promote a sane society and give youths the platform to thrive.
He urged squash enthusiasts to come out to watch the best of squash and cheer their favourite players to victory.
(NAN)
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