Adewale picks wild card for Nigeria

NIGERIA got an enhanced chance of a memorable outing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games when Alex Adewale picked a wild card after emerging champion in an Olympic qualifying tourney in Johannesburg, South Africa.National Wheelchair Tennis coach, Frank Tarmena, said that Adewale's performance in the Salzburg Open in Austria made the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to increase Nigeria's wild card to three from its previous single slot.Adewale took his rich form, which has seen him rise to the top three in the country, to theACSA JohannesburgOpen, whichtook place at the Selbourne Park Tennis Stadium in East London, where he won all his five matches to clinch the title at the expense of the other 24 players that represented 14 countries.He was, however, unable to repeat the feat in the second leg - the ACSA Border Open, which took place at the University of Johannesburg Tennis Club, where he lost in the second round. He did, however, leave the tournament with his head high when he partnered a South African to win the doubles in the ACSA Border Open.Adewale returned to Nigeria on Tuesday eveningwith excitement that he was able to achieve his dream of qualifying despite the difficult circumstances he faced ahead of the championship.'It was like a miracle because I wasn't sure of making it to the tournament,' he revealed. 'I was still running around to get some money for the trip two days to the tournament but thanks to coach Frank, who rallied round to make sure I did not miss the tournament.'Tarmena said he was still optimistic that Nigeria would get all the wild cards the country is open to, noting that Wasiu Yusuf, who featured in Beijing 2008, and Jude Uwaize, as well as two female players would be under intense preparations for the next qualifier salted for February 2012 in Kenya.
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