Record Entries Expected At 2012 Governor's Cup

Thirty five countries have signified their interest to feature in the 12th edition of the Governor's Cup Lagos Tennis Championship, which will hold from 13-27 October, 2012 will feature a record numbers of participating foreign players across the world.

 The tournament is geared towards attracting future champions across the world to Lagos State-the emerging Third (3rd) Mega City of the World, in showcasing the heavy infrastructural development from 1999 and the tourism potentials of the state. +

The move has generated more interest as tennis players have been requesting from the secretariat of Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, letters of invitation to enable them process their visas to Nigeria to feature in the International Tennis Federation, ITF approved Futures, which will be played at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos.

Sportweight.blogspot,gathered that players from about 15 countries have sought for letters of invitation from the NTF as at 9 September, with the federation expecting this number to be triple by Thursday 27 September when the entries for the first leg of the championship will close.

Some of the countries are South Africa, Spain, Belgium, USA, Kenya, Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Germany, Israel, Botswana, India and China.

Secretary of the NTF, Mrs Nkana Mbora disclosed that Indian tennis players have sent a large number of request for letters of invitation. Meanwhile, the ITF says on its website that players should put in their registration for the first leg,Futures 1 of the competition, latest by 14:00GMT of 27 September, while withdrawal deadline has been fixed for Tuesday, 2 October by 14:00GMT.

Giving details on the format of this year’s competition, the ITF says the qualifying matches for the first leg will be played weekend of 13 and 14 October, with a Sign-in deadline of Friday, 12 October before 18:00 local time. The Main Draws of 32 fixtures will begin on Monday, 15 October.

 According to ITF, registration for the second leg of the championship, which will serve off on Monday, 22 October closed on Thursday, 4 October by 14.00GMT, while withdrawal deadline has been fixed for Tuesday, 9 October by 14:00GMT.

The qualifying matches for the second leg will hold in the weekend of 20 and 21 October with the Sign-in deadline on Friday, 19 October before 18:00 local time.

 The total prize money for the Governor’s Cup since it became an ITF approved circuit has been $80,000 for Main Draw players with the men’s category carting home the sum of $30,000 with hospitality, while the women’s category wins $50,000 without hospitality.

With the humane nature of former Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, partial hospitality has been accorded by the organisers to women players-concessionary accommodation plus transportation to and from Airport, competition venue and hotel accommodation.

The main sponsors are Etisalat Nigeria, FCMB Plc with other co sponsors like Julius Berger Plc, CCECC, Stomberg Limited, Plycon Limited, SMC Limited, Globe-HFP Limited, LASACO Assurance Plc and NASTON Limited just to mention a few.

The sponsors, who are Friends of the Governor, have been supporting the competition in both individuals and corporate capacities.