T&T's Under-12 boys' and girls' tennis teams had perfect starts to the International Tennis Federation's (ITF)-COTECC Under-12 Development Competition on Sunday's opening day at the National Racquet Centre (NRC) in Orange Grove, Tacarigua.
The country's boys' team of Sebastian Plimmer, Josiah Hills, and Favian Dates contested Group 1 of the round-robin playoff and secured an opening-match victory 3-0 against St Kitts & Nevis.
Early-morning rain failed to dampen the spirits of the local players as Plimmer completed a flawless 6-0, 6-0 victory over Greyson Burrell on court 5, handing the boys in red, white, and black a 1-0 advantage.
That score doubled almost simultaneously when Hills brushed aside Tzuriel Percival 6-0, 6-1 in the other singles contest.
Leading 2-0 in front of their home fans, the T&T trio then sealed the win with the pair of Hills and Plimmer destroying Percival and Burrell 6-1, 6-1 in the doubles for the 3-0 victory.
Also, the country's Group 1 girls' team threesome of Suri Ramcharan, Makeda Bain, and Ysanne Williams made it across the finish line in their clash with Aruba on court 10. Ramcharan had a sweat-less 6-0, 6-0 display over Atyanna Fernandez in the opening rubber, while Bain made light work out of Eva Benschop 6-0, 6-3 to confirm the victory for the home team.
However, the combination of Bain and Williams later proved to be unstoppable in the doubles as they completed their unblemished record by beating the pair of Benschop and Fernandez 6-2, 6-3.
In Group 2 T&T also dominated the proceedings by beating St Kitts & Nevis 2-1 on Court 4. First, Samiyah Mohammed prevailed over Briella Lake in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, and later, Keyah Roberts reigned supreme over Shreya Rawat 6-4, 6-4 for a 2-0 lead.
Later in the doubles, however, Isabella Rambhajan joined Roberts for the doubles, but they could not hold off an improved St Kitts & Nevis team as the pair of Lake and Rawat held off Roberts and Rambhajan 6-2, 6-1.
