Blessing Otu, Others through to CBN Senior Tennis Second Round

Blessing Otu has advanced to the second round of the 47th Central Bank of Nigeria Senior Tennis Championship in Abuja. The young player secured her spot by defeating Kelvin Bebe-Emmanuella in the women's singles.

Otu won her first-round match in the Round of 32 convincingly, with scores of 6-1, 6-3 in two straight sets. She will now proceed to the Round of 16. Speaking after her match, the soon-to-be 19-year-old attributed her success to studying her opponent's left-handed playing style and adapting her game plan accordingly.

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Bebe is a very good and tough player. But I studied her game, adopted the game plan to succeed, and it worked for me.

"Bebe is a very good and tough player. But I studied her game, adopted the game plan to succeed, and it worked for me," Otu said. She acknowledged Bebe's attempts to fight back in the second set but felt she successfully countered her opponent's strategies. "I punctured all her tricks to win the match and move on. I wish I can continue like this with the rest of my games."

In other family news, John Otu also advanced in the men's singles, defeating Mohammed Abdusalam 2-1. However, their sibling Thomas Otu was eliminated in his first game, losing in straight sets to Danjuma Isaac. Several other matches saw winners like Michael Emmanuel, Drimiya Mevi, Mohammed Dahiru, Sylvanus Agang, and Michael Chima progressing in the tournament.

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I punctured all her tricks to win the match and move on. I wish I can continue like this with the rest of my games.