Isah Yahaya, the Boys 16s top seed who was favourite to win the category, suffered a shock 4-9 defeat at the hands of Ikeja Police College Club emerging star Heman Afaramai. ‘

Yahaya, the 2025 Boys 14 champion, appeared to have underrated his opponent, who took an early 4-1 lead and resisted all attempts by the No.1 seed to turn the tide. Yahaya, however, can still qualify if he wins his next two round robin matches.

Another upset came in the Boys 12s, where eight-year-old Kingronnie Oyemenam from Abuja put up a very determined and consistent display to beat the 4th seed, Jedidiah Essien from the Akwa Ibom-based GEUF Tennis Academy.

In the absence of Aina Goodnews, who won the Girls 16s last year and reached the semifinals of the senior event a few months later, the Girls 16s title would appear to have Gloria Samuel, runner-up last year and Favour James of the GEUF Academy, who was runner-up at the NDDC Games, as favourites.

However, the Wuraola sisters, Ziyyadat and Khadijat, from Kwara State, who had easy wins over Destiny Dahz 9-3 and Sarah Peter 9-2 from Lagos
respectively are looking as good as possible contenders.

The preliminary round robin matches are taking place at the National Stadium, while the grand finale will be held at the Ikoyi Club on Saturday.