Team Nigeria lands in Morocco ahead of Davis Cup tie - Punch Newspapers
File: The Nigeria Davis Cup team after arriving in Morocco.
After weeks of training on the clay courts of the Lagos Country Club in Ikeja, the Nigeria Davis Cup team has arrived in Morocco ahead of their World Group II tie against the North Africans on September 19 and 20 in Rabat, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The tie will be played at the Union Sportive des Cheminots de Tennis du Maroc in Rabat. The Nigerian team comprises former national No. 1 Daniel Adeleye, current top-ranked player Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Abubakar Yusuf and coach Benson Ishicheli, alongside four officials of the Nigeria Tennis Federation. They departed Nigeria in the early hours of Monday and arrived in Morocco at about 11:25 am, with preparations for the tie now continuing in Rabat. The players had spent more than a week in camp in Lagos, where Ishicheli focused on their fitness and match readiness ahead of the crucial encounter. Davis Cup: Nigeria gear up for Morocco test Visa issues deny Nigeria mixed 4x100m chance in Hungary V’ball: Nigeria coach hails team spirit after DR Congo comeback Nigeria earned their World Group II spot after beating Uzbekistan 3-1 at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club in February, a result that boosted the team’s confidence and improved the country’s position in the Davis Cup rankings. The tie was level at 1-1 after the opening singles matches, before Nigeria moved ahead on the second day through a crucial doubles victory by Abua and Emmanuel. Adeleye then sealed the win with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ilya Ignatov, who was making his Davis Cup debut for Uzbekistan. Morocco, meanwhile, dropped into World Group II after losing their World Group I play-off against Colombia at the USM Tennis Club Stadium in Casablanca. Nigeria will now look to build on their victory over Uzbekistan and continue their progress in the Davis Cup, the world’s premier international men’s team tennis competition organised by the International Tennis Federation. Abiodun Adewale Abiodun, who reports Sports for PUNCH, covers different tiers of the Nigerian football league, the national teams, as well as cricket, in the last six years
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