Tennis : Jubilation as Nigeria gain Promotion to World Group 2 of Davis Cup

By Tayo Adeyemo

The Nigeria Davis Cup team are back to the country after thier heroic performance saw them gain Promotion to World Group 2.

The five man squad of Christopher Bulus, Daniel Adeleye, Micheal Emmanuel and Canice Abua overcame sickness and match rustiness to finish third in the African Group 3 .

The fifth player Uche Oparaji couldn’t make the trip due to funds.

Senegal top the group followed by Namibia and Nigeria.The top three have gained promotion to World Group 2, while Algeria and Zimbabwe failed to qualify.

The team led by non playing captain and coach, Benson Isichelli defeated Senegal, Algeria and Zimbabwe but lost to Namibia.

The draw for the World Group 2 promotion Playoffs will hold in December this year while hostilities is billed for February 2026.

Coach Benson was full of praise for his boys and the Federation led by Engineer Ifedayo Akindoju who made a lot of sacrifice to ensure Nigeria did not miss out.
According to him, they overcame physical and mental ailments to qualify for world Group 2.

‘Our going was a miracle, no camping, we were not camped due to lack of funds ,no time to work on doubles strategy.We only used the CBN Open to prepare for the event .We left Nigeria in good health only to be down with flu on getting to Zimbabwe,we couldn’t train well,only Bulus who joined us from the US was ok ,the rest of us were down health wise and couldn’t train enough
We played with running nose and had medical treatment throughout our stay buy I keep telling my boys we must get this promotion.
I have to use nose mask and even after our arrival,I can’t leave home due to quarantine.
Coach Benson is pleading with Corporate Nigeria to support the Tennis Federation in its quest to
reach the world group.
‘We need to start camping on time because we are facing teams from Europe and Asia in Group 2 .
This are countries who are ahead of us and early training and available funds will assist us .