2016 Dala Hard Court: Babalola, Adegoke crash out

What turned out to be another upset at the ongoing 30th Dala Hard Court tennis Championship in Kano was recorded on Thursday, as former Nigeria's number one, Abdulmumin Babalola was bundled out of the tournament by Joseph Imeh.
 
Imeh in an explosive Men's Singles quarter-final clash stunned Ibadan-based Babalola as he came from behind to win the match 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.
 
The former Nigeria junior player, Imeh who is eyeing his first national senior title will on Friday face top seed, Moses Micheal in the semi-final after the latter had triumphed over Shehu Lawal 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 in another quarter-final pairing.
 
Moses had conquered Clifford Enosoregbe 6-3, 6-4 in the second round amid his devastating form to overwhelm Nigeria’s best performer at the 2016 Lagos Governor’s Cup Tennis Championship, Enosoregbe who made it to the quarter-final of the International Tennis Federation-ranked tournament last month.
“This is undoubtedly one of the toughest matches I have ever played in my career. Mumin’s experience reflected in his game but I was so determined not to lose the game and in the end I won. We were both tired because we played so many games. I thank God I won in the end and I now believe I can beat anybody and win the tournament,” an elated Imeh said.

Interestingly, it was also a sad day for another Ibadan-based player, Sarah Adegoke as she lost in the semi-final of the Women's Singles.
 
Adegoke, last year's finalist tried her best to contain the firepower of Blessing Samuel, but to no avail as the match ended in 6-1, 5-7, 6-3.

The 2014 Dala Hard Court champion, Adegoke, had in the quarter-final came from a set down to beat Ronke Akingbade 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Defending champion, Christy Agubgom is a game left to retain her title as she dumped Patience Onobamhoin also on Thursday to book a final showdown with Samuel.
 
Also in the Men's Singles, Thomas Otu, former Nigeria number one ranked player defeated Emmanuel Idoko 6-3, 6-2 and will face the winner between defending champion, Sylvester Emmanuel and Emmanuel Sunday whose game was suspended due to poor visibility at 1-1 major.  The match will be completed on Friday (November 25) morning.
 
In his remarks, Yusuf Datti, the Chief Operating Officer of the tournament said he was
impressed with the quality of play.
 
“It has been a very tough championship as all the players are so much determined to go for the top prize. The match between Imeh and Babalola is a classic so also the match involving Moses and Lawal. It has been an impressive tournament by all standard,” Datti said.
 
The men’s singles champion will go home with N800,000 while the women’s champion will pocket N500,000 as prize money according to the organisers of the annual tournament.
..............
Caption: 

Sarah Adegoke (left), crashed out of the Women's Singles and Moses Michael, still in the race to win the Men's Singles of the ongoing Dala Hart Court Tennis in Kano.