Team Ghana’s journey at the 2026 ITF/CAT West & Central African Junior Championships in Lomé was a display of grit and growth. While the Ghanaian contingent faced stiff competition from regional powerhouses, their performance solidified their status as a rising force in African junior tennis.
The "mixed bag" results saw Ghana’s boys coming agonizingly close to podium finishes, while the girls’ teams gained invaluable experience against the region's elite.
Led by the PM Sports standout Jeffery Frimpong, along with Eric Torto and Theodociuos Tagoe, the 16s secured a 3rd place (Bronze) finish. Nigeria dominated this category to take 1st place, spearheaded by Chukwudubem Amasiani, former African U14 no.2 (who went unbeaten in singles). Benin took 2nd place after a tight battle with the Ghanaian boys in the round-robin stage.
The trio of Joseph Tetteh, Jefter Dowuona, and Blessing Sewornu finished 4th overall. In a high-stakes tie against Benin, Ghana won one singles match to force a decider. The bronze medal was decided by a final set super-tiebreak in the doubles match, which Benin narrowly clinched to push Ghana off the podium.
The girls' teams faced the toughest draws of the tournament, coming up against a formidable Nigerian squad that swept multiple titles. Philipina Sewornu, Nhyira Antwi and Benedicta Manyah finished 4th, narrowly missing out on the 3rd-place trophy to Nigeria in the Girls' 16s. While they narrowly missed the 3rd place trophy, the points they earned for reaching the 4th spot in the team event helped Ghana maintain its position as one of the top 5 tennis nations in the West & Central African zone.
The Nigerian 16s girls settled for 3rd only after a complex games/sets countback, despite being tied with the leaders. Represented by Georgette Nortey, Anna Nyarkoh and Whitney Orimoloye the team finished 6th. Georgette Nortey was a standout, reaching the individual quarterfinals before falling to Nigeria’s Mofifunoluwa Atilola.
While the team event was a "mixed bag," Ghana’s players earned significant CAT ranking points. Jeffery Frimpong’s performance in the 16s was particularly noted as he held his own against Nigeria's top-ranked players. Frimpong was noted for his tactical maturity, particularly his ability to maintain high intensity in long rallies—a trait that kept him competitive against Nigeria's top seeds. Joseph Tetteh's resiliance in the boys' 14, forcing the No1 seed from cameroon into a tough spot before losing the match in the final set super-tiebreak, was one of the highlights of the tournament as well.
The tournament served as a stark reminder of the "fine margins" in junior tennis. Whether it was the heartbreaking super-tiebreak loss to Benin for the U14 boys or the narrow 4th-place finish for the U16 girls, these results are not failures, but lessons in under-pressure performance. We wish our future stars all the best, as we keep a close eye on their progress in the next couple of years.
