Former tennis pro helps children shine on court in Cameroon

FILE PHOTO: Joseph Oyebog, a former Cameroonian tennis champion, watches his daugther Lucy, during her training at Oyebog, a tennis academy for young, disadvantaged players founded by him in Souza, Cameroon April 30, 2023. REUTERS/Desire Danga Essigue

SOUZA, Cameroon (Reuters) - Six years since weeping over a lost match, Manantsop Delisle, 14, is excelling at a Cameroonian tennis academy for underprivileged young players whose founder offered her free training after being impressed by her dedication to the game.

Now she wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to start a round of workouts, practice sessions, and school classes alongside nine other girls and 22 boys boarding at the Oyebog Tennis Academy in the town of Souza.