The Azim lawn tennis tournament ended on Sunday, September 27 at the tennis court of the Le Deputé Hotel in Yaoundé with Lekama Narcisse and Nkwenti Blaise emerging champions.
The tournament was played with 11 athletes, eight engaged in the tournament of eight and three involved in the tournament of tigers.
In the tournament of eight final, Lekama Narcisse beat Midzie Dieunedort by two sets to zero (7-6 and 6-3) to grab the trophy while in the Tiger tournament which was reserved for the first three on the national classification, saw the reigning Cameroon champion, Nkwenti Blasie confirm his superiority to the former champion, Augustin Touba, beating him by two sets to one; 4-6, 7-5 and 10-9.
The tournament of eight saw the eight athletes separated into two groups and the first two of each group qualified for the semifinals with the leader of Group A facing the runners-up of Group B and vice versa. The winners qualified for the finals. Meanwhile in the tiger tournament, the three athletes played two games each against each opponent and the first two of the trio qualified for the final.
Speaking at the final, the promoter of the competition, Abdoul Aziz Bakary, said he was satisfied with the holding of the tournament saying the objective of detecting young talents has been attained. He promised to continue organising the competition every year saying he would work with other sponsors and the federation to establish a calendar of competitions such that competitions do not overlap. He said the game of lawn tennis could be a way of fighting unemployment and can contribute in boosting Cameroon’s image abroad.
According to the national youth trainer for lawn tennis, Nguemi Bruno, the objective is to groom great tennis talents like Yannick Noah.
