African Junior Tennis: Adjokatse, Okine win silver for Ghana

Ghana’s duo of Kenneth Adjokatse and Richard Okine won silver in the boys Under-14 doubles event at the just-ended African Juniors Tennis Championship (AJC) held at the Ominisport Stadium in Lome, Togo.

The one-week tournament organised by the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT), in conjunction with the International Tennis Federation (ITF), saw Kenneth Adzokatse and Richard Okine booking a ticket to the semis after ousting Nigeria’s Suleiman Ibrahim and Kushimo Usman 6-3,6-0.
However, a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Benin’s Mariano Kpodeziaou and Udensi Junior meant the Ghanaians finished as runners-up and claimed the silver medal to become the only members of the Ghana team to have won a medal.

The other members of the Ghana team, namely Richmond Armaah, Aaron Asante, Desmond Ayaaba and Louis Nyaaba who competed in the boys Under-16 and Under-14 divisions, were all eliminated from the competition as they failed to make it to the semi-final stages.

There was also no success for the Ghana ladies as Yayrah Komashie, Lawrencia Manuo and Aleona Ankrah also lost their first-round matches earlier in the competition.

Ghana Coach Bernard Ashitey Armah blamed the team's poor showing on inadequate preparations ahead of the championships.

“We could have won more trophies if we had enough preparation for this championship. It was a decent performance by the youngsters, especially Kenneth and Richard who won Ghana's only silver medal. They did very well given their preparation.

The tournament brought together participants from West and Central Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroun, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.