Against all odds, Kaduna-based Team Offikwu put up a brave performance to upset the cart, defeating Team Civil Defence and set up a scintillating final with Team Tombim for the ultimate prize of the NCC Tennis League.

Ceoafrica gatherd that after Tombim had secured the first final ticket in Enugu two weekends ago against Team FCT, Offikwu’s Sylvester Emmanuel and Aanu Aiyegbusi rose to the occasion in the decisive mixed doubles match of the second semifinals of the league played on the tennis courts of the National Stadium, Abuja, to dash the hopes of the star-studded runner-up of the maiden edition last year.

When Abdulmumuni Babalola beat Sylvester Emmanuel  6-3, 7-6 in the first singles and Shehu Lawal followed  with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Emmanuel Idoko to pick the first two points for the Civil Defence on Saturday, many present assumed the die was cast.

It turned out, however, that Team Offikwu had other ideas and picked the next two points that they were least expected to win.

Aiyegbusi put up a virtuoso performance to beat national ladies’ champion Christie Agugbom, who has never lost a match in the league, 7-5, 6-0, while the pair of Albert Bicom and Emmanuel recovered from a set down to upset current national doubles champions, Lawal and Babalola 4-6, 6-3, 10 -6 in the men’s doubles to even scores on Saturday.

Babalola beat Idoko 7-6, 6-4 while Emmanuel beat Shehu Lawal 6-1, 6-3 to level 3-3 to have the mixed doubles as the decisive match.

That was where Emmanuel, the highest-ranked Nigerian on the ATP Tour and petite Aiyegbusi, ranked in the top five in Nigeria, played their hearts out to beat Lawal and Agugbom 6-3, 5-7, 11-9 to secure team Offikwu’s place in the finals scheduled for Lagos this weekend.

“This was the most tension-packed, most exciting match I have seen in Nigeria and the second worldwide in my whole life. The other was the Australian Open quarter-final between Younis Aynaoui of Morocco and Andy Roddick of the USA many years ago which lasted over five hours, with the final set ending 16-14 or so. This was a similar experience,” recalled the coordinator of the league and the director of the International Tennis Academy (ITA), Lagos, Godwin Kienka.

Emmanuel, who was the main architect of the victory, bravely intercepted and hit winners all over the place, rolled over and shed tears of joy for over five minutes on the court, while Aiyegbusi ran all over the court, thanking God for the victory.

“We knew it was going to be a very difficult match but we prepared very well, starting the day after we qualified for the semi-finals and God rewarded our hard work,” gushed Emmanuel, who contributed to all four points won by the surprise finalists, who would clinch the princely sum of N7m if they win or N5m if they lose to Team Tombim in the finals.

“Team Offikwu deserved to win,” conceded the captain of Team Civil Defence, Sunday Jonah. “We took our opponents for granted and did not approach the match as seriously as we should have and we paid the price”.