Reports from the Secretary General of the Gambia Lawn Tennis Association, Phillip Akibogun, have disclosed that the three Gambian tennis stars, namely Basuruwa Conteh, Seedy Bojang and Ousman Sanyang, will all miss the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tennis championship to be held in India and South Africa.
Conteh and Bojang, it could be recalled, were chosen by the association to represent the country in next month's Commonwealth games in India but latest information gathered by Pointsport has revealed that the Gambian tennis stars "will definitely miss the tournament as a result of the association's inability to fund" or meet the flight expenses and details."
It is also understood that the World Tennis rankings have not helped the Gambian duo, as the ITF took a step higher than expected. Ousman Sanyang, Gambia's only representative in the Junior Wheelchair Tennis tournament, will also miss the ITF Wheelchair Championship in South Africa.
The young Gambian wheelchair tennis star invited by the ITF "will miss the tournament as a result of the association?s inability to fund his flight details for the championship".
According to Phillip, the association got the information from the ITF that they "will not be responsible" for the flight details of Sanyang who was supposed to be accompanied by a coach from the association, Lamin Drammeh, prompting the association to cancel the trip.
