The crème of tennis players in West Africa will converge on the tennis courts of the Accra Stadium for the much-anticipated third edition f the McDan Open Tennis Championship between June 27 and July 2, 2016.

The tournament which is originally played in April every year had to be rescheduled due to internal organizational arrangements and observation of the ban on drumming and noise making in the Ga traditional area, within which the Accra Stadium is located.

The tournament has generated great levels of excitement within the fraternity with indications that some foreign based Ghanaian players especially in the UK and US will travel to Accra for the one week tournament.

The bait is a total prize package of 5000usd coupled with the fact that new rivalries will be created amongst players from different countries, brings a new buzz of excitement amongst the players.

The attractive nature of the tournament has also resulted in West Blue Consulting and Rush Energy Drink coming on board as sponsors.

The staging of this tournament follows a promise by the headline sponsors McDan Shipping to extent the competition beyond Ghana.  In an interview, Mr Daniel McKorley, the executive Chairman of the McDan Group said “we set out to create internationally competitive players from the onset and we are on course. Our players must be able to face the stiffest competition and eventually break into the ATP rankings.

So extending the McDan Open Tournament to West Africa is only a step to achieve a greater aim in the future.”

According to him the gold medal winning feat of McDan Opens defending champion, George Darko and his team mate Wisdom Na Adrago at the last All Africa Games is a testament to the positive impact the sponsorship is making.

“I am glad that within the space of two years, the McDan Open Championship has become a breeding ground for winners of major silverware. This is inspires me to do more,” Mr McKorley said.

About 120 players are expected to lay in the week-long tournament which is expected to attract players from Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. 

This year’s edition of the tournament is sponsored by McDan Shipping with technical support from the Ghana Tennis Federation (GTF) and the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT).

In last year’s final George Darko staged revenge and defeated Jeff Bagerbaseh to win the main trophy and a cash prize of GHC 3,000. Japhet Bagerbaseh caused a major upset in the maiden edition in 2014 by defeating Darko in two sets to one.

Francisca Nyarko has won the ladies singles title two times running and will be at the center of attention for the one week event.

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