The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has earmarked the sum of N12.9 million as total prize money for its 42nd Senior Open Tennis Championship.
This was made known at a press briefing by CBN in collaboration with the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Thursday.
Ifedayo Akindoju, President of the NTF, said the winners in both the male and female singles would grab N700,000 each.
“We are expecting a minimum of 250 athletes. Today is the arrival of athletes but the qualifying series starts tomorrow.
“We have up to 128 entries in the male qualifying series and over 64 entries for female.
“For the main draw which begins on Monday, we have 64 entries for male and 32 for female. We also have 16 entries each for men and women wheelchair tennis.
” The event is in six categories; male and female singles, men and women doubles and wheel chairmen and female singles.
“The top 42 players in the male category according to our rankings from last year will qualify for the main draw automatically.
“Sixteen players will move to the main draw from qualifiers while four players will be given a wild card for the men’s category,” Akindoju said.
The tournament is expected to begin on Monday and end on Saturday.