Nigeria’s Christopher Bulus Friday qualified for the boys’ singles final of the 2107 ITF Junior Circuit in Togo with a roller-coaster 6-1, 6-1 win over Alex Lago of Cote d’ivoire.
Bulus reached the semi-finals of the Benin Leg of the point-earning tournament where he lost to eventual winner Delmas N’tcha of Benin and is now a victory away from bagging the crown which could see him rise significantly in the world junior rankings.
Before claiming the scalp of Lago, the 16-year-old’s breathless display at the Stade Omnisports which has also saw him defeated Vansh Bhagtani of India 6-2, 6-2 and Hugo Jardin of France 7-6, 6-4 in the second round and quarterfinals respectively, is expected to fire him up for the final where he will meet the winner of the clash between sixth-seeded Nt’cha and Eliakim Coulibaly, the second seed from Cote d’ivoire.
The Aces Tennis Club of Lagos player, who was a surprise quarter finalist at this year’s CBN Open, has now reached his second final in the circuit in five months having appeared in the championship match in a similar tournament in May in Cote d’ivoire where incidentally, he lost to Coulibaly 6-1, 5-7, 4-6.
In the girls’ singles, there was no respite for title holder, Oyinlomo Barakat Quadre, as she bowed 3-6, 4-6, in the quarterfinals to unseeded Margaux Rouvroy of France. She was beaten at the same stage last week by Bhakti Bawani of India
Nigeria’s Adetayo Adetunji won the Benin Leg last weekend but she is not participating. The final week of the tournament featuring about 90 participants from over 25 countries is scheduled to serve-off on Monday.
