Kumasi hosts tennis rankings Saturday

Ahead of this year’s Davis Cup in June, the Ashanti Regional Tennis Federation under the parent body, the Ghana Tennis Federation, will host the second edition of the National Ranking Tournament from March 26 to April 2 to select a crack squad for the national team.

The one-week competition, which hitherto was hosted in Accra, will feature about 50 players across the country at the 4 Garrison Officers Mess tennis court in Kumasi.

Aside selecting players for the national team,  results of the ranking are expected to be forwarded to the International Tennis Federation for international ranking.

The vice chairman of the GTF, Mr Isaac Duah, told the Daily Graphic that the decision to move the tournament to Kumasi was premised on the keen interest and support the regional federation has been getting from lovers of tennis and some corporate institutions in Kumasi. It is also to raise the level of awareness of the game in the region and offer a change of environment for the players.

On his part, the chairman of the regional body, Mr Kwasi Agyeman Gyamibi, expressed the hope that the competition would produce one of the best squads Ghana has ever presented at any competition.

The event, dubbed ‘Babolat National Ranking Tournament’, is sponsored by Ismaila Tennis & Sports Shop, the official agent of Babolat in Ghana and supported by McDan Shipping Company Limited.

Some of the players expected to participate are Wisdom Na-Adjrago (Ghana’s number two seed), Benjamin Fumi, Emmanuel Nyan Plange, Bernard Dugbah, Kwabena Ofosu Bamfo, Pascal Ziyab, Francis Akpese, Daniel  Anum Quartey and former number one seed,  Jeff Bagerbaseh.