Abuja: Sponsors of the Davnotch National Open Tennis Championship have promised to increase the prize money for winners from N8 million to a more attractive amount.
President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Ifedayo Akindoju, made this statement on Wednesday in Abuja, while briefing journalists on the format of the championship, which has attracted over 100 players.
Akindoju said that the increased prize money, which had yet to be announced, would be revealed in a few days as the week-long championship progressed.
“When we distributed the fact sheet initially, you will be shocked at the point of payment of the prize monies, but that is going to be much more than what we published.
“Like I said, it’s supposed to be a surprise. I cannot release the amount to you today because the negotiation is still ongoing, and I don’t want to commit myself.
“But give me another two days, and it will be published, and then every player (male and female categories) will know the final amount. The sponsor has guaranteed that we’ll be able to ensure that players get more funds from what was published in the fact sheet.”
According to Akindoju, the Federation has added a junior category to the championship, which is in its 5th edition, to enable young players to showcase their talents.
Akindoju explained that they had an event last, then another event, and in the process of that event, a challenge was exposed. “What was the challenge?; he queried”
“There were a lot of junior players around that were not up to 14 years old, and some of them went ahead to register for the tournament, the last week’s tournament.
“But we followed the rules, and then the rule is that to play a national tournament, you must be a minimum of 14 years old. So they were not allowed to play.
“I saw that they were not happy. And so, as a board, we quickly met and decided to include some juniors who are available to play the junior Davnotch.
“So for the first time, in this event, we have the Davnotch Junior that is going to start this afternoon,” he said.
Akindoju stated that efforts had been intensified to persuade the sponsors to continue sponsoring the championship, following the expiration of the five-year deal entered into by both parties.
He added that talents had been discovered through the championship, and as such, he would ensure that the partnership with Davnotch was renewed.
The championship, which started on Sunday, is expected to end on Saturday.
