Fumi upsets Quartey for National Ranking Tour title
Benjamin Fumi last Friday claimed his first National Ranking Tour title with a thrilling 6-1, 6-3 victory over Daniel Quartey in an action-packed final at the tennis arena of the Accra Stadium. It was a significant win for Fumi, who finally ended chains of heartbreaks in five unsuccessful attempts in the past.
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For his prize, Fumi received the National Ranking Tour trophy and a cash prize of GH¢2,000. Quartey received a trophy and GHc1000 as cash prize for finishing second, while all the semi and quarter finalists received GHc500 and GHc250 as cash prizes respectively.
The National Ranking Tour 2, christened “2017 Alkamin Open”, which was sponsored by Rockcare, Group of Companies, producers of Alkamin Natural Water, produced one week of thrilling encounters on the court.
Twenty-one-year-old Fumi, who studied Auto Mechanics at the ARS Technical Institute, had a good day in the final when he won the toss and stunned the favourite, Quartey, in the early exchanges. Fumi won all his serves and took a commanding 6-1 lead in the first set as he forced his opponent to commit several unforced errors.
Much as Quartey tried to recover, it was simply a day for Fumi who again dominated the second set to end the set 6-3 and win the game.
Both Fumi and Quartey reached the final last Friday after defeating Jeff Bagerbaseh 0-6, 6-2, 6-4 and Bernard Dugbah 6-2, 6-3 respectively.
The one-week tournament saw Quartey dispatch National Ranking Tour 1 winner Emmanuel Plange, beating him 6-4, 7-6(6) in the quarter finals last Thursday, while Fum dismissed Charles Asomani with a 7-6(3), 7-6(8) win.
"I am excited that I have won two trophies in one event. This is the first time I have made it to the final after five attempts and once I reached the final I knew I would win the ultimate", said Fumi in a post match interview.
The final game attracted a large crowd, including Dr Antwi Tetteh, a representative from Alkamin Group, Mr Isaac Duah, president of the Ghana Tennis Federation, Peter Annan (Grand Master) and other former tennis stars.