Abuja – National Tennis Coach, Rotimi Akinloye, on Thursday in Abuja, said Nigeria’s tennis team to upcoming All Africa Games in Congo was determined to win laurels for the country. To achieve this, he said that the players and trainers had intensified preparation for the competition. Akinloye said that though the team had only six weeks to prepare for the games, it had mapped out plans to ensure adequate fitness of players, assuring that the team would not disappoint Nigerians. “We have divided our training period into three; we have the general preparatory period, the specific period and the pre-tournament period. “So far in this general preparation, we have been building on solid foundation, improving on the players’ technical ability and making sure that they are very fit. “The response has been very encouraging this year; for this year’s All Africa Games preparation, we have an array of very young talented players who we expect to be in their peak form and do the nation proud at the games,’’ he said. Akinloye said that 16 players were currently in camp, while four would join from their foreign locations next week. “We hope that before the end of next week everybody will be in camp, so that we can do our elimination and focus on the actual players going for the games. “Our ultimate goal is to win goal medals and that is what we are going for,’’ he said. Akinloye assured that the team would win at least three goal medals out of the six medals available in the event. He advised players to stay out of drugs, warning that he would not condone such act. He commended the National Sports Commission for doing everything in its power to meet the challenges of the team. NAN reports that the 11th All Africa Games is scheduled for Sept. 4 to Sept. 19 in Brazzaville. It also reports that the country’s contingent to the games would depart on Aug. 30, according to the sports commission.
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