It was a glorious moment for Nigeria’s Gabriel Inyang, who conquered his peers from other parts of the world to win the U12 category of the 2016 Beco International Junior Tennis Tournament in New York City, U.S., at the weekend. Gabriel, who will turn 11 this Friday, was part of Nigeria’s Team B at the 2016 ITF/CAT West and Central Africa Junior Tennis Championship in Abuja in January.

On his way to success in New York, he topped his pool, which had four players, and also defeated two Americans in the semifinal and final to win the week-long event. “Gabriel is a very motivated and energetic kid, who is a good tennis player as well. His strength is his groundstrokes and his serves; he is also impressive at the net as well. He has all the qualities and if he stays focused, he can go professional,” Balazs Nagy, a Hungarian coach remarked after the Nigerian’s glorious outing in New York.

Next stop for Inyang’s two-month training tour of the United States is the American Tennis Association Junior Championship in August in Florida, where he will be looking forward to another memorable outing having won the U10 category last year. “He is also excited ahead of the tournament in Florida, as he will be working with coach Chris from Scotland, who’s son featured in the junior category of the 2016 Wimbledon Open,” said his father and coach, Gabriel Inyang, from the VGC Tennis Club, Lagos.

Source: Guardian

Teenage Nigerian, Inyang wins New York’s Beco Junior tennis tourney