The pair of Seve Day and Jayden Mitchell emerged as the champions in the Men's 'A' and 'B' Divisions, respectively, of the Metro Hotel Chetwynd End of Year Singles Tennis Tournament Sunday at the club's courts on St Vincent Street in Tunapuna.
On the day of finals, Mitchell, the son of the president of the Tennis Association of T&T Hayden Mitchell, showed that the apple does not fall far from the tree, as he romped to a more-than-comfortable two sets victory over Cliff Meade in the 'B' final.
It was the first time for the junior Mitchell in a Chetwynd tourney, and he made it count, 6-2 in the first set before completing his triumph overall with a 6-0 win in the second set for the title. The senior Mitchell was on the spot to witness his son's success and smiled knowing it was as a result of the tireless work by him and his executive in developing the sport of tennis throughout T&T.
Day, on the other hand, had to battle for his title against two-time national champion Nabeel Mohammed, who was also the beaten finalist last year. However, Day, in his first foray at the Chetwynd surprised all by beating the top-ranked Mohammed in a hotly-contested final in three sets. Day snatched the early advantage 6-4 in the first set but later had to eat humble pie as Mohammed levelled the match at one-apiece with a 6-2 triumph in the second set.
Mohammed's return had set the pace for a race to the finish, but Day composed himself and took the deciding match 10-7 for the title. Afterwards, he told Guardian Media Sports, that he just wanted to go out and play his game with confidence, and he did just that.
"I planned to control the points and make it a physical match for Mohammed. I know I may not have played many top tournaments but I always had confidence in my ability," Day said.
Also on the day, Robert Caesar overcame Winston John in two sets (7-5, 6-1) for the Men's Over 45 title. Caesar was confident heading into yesterday's final, having defeated Mukesh Ramsingh, 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinal the day before.
His opponent prevailed over Kyron Gomez in their semifinal contest for the right to face Caesar, but it did not go according to plan for him.
Meanwhile, Kelvin Siewdass was crowned the Men's 60 and over singles title winner. Facing Rafeek Mohammed in the final, Siewdass seemed to have drawn first blood by taking the opening set 6-4, but Mohammed stormed back with a match-levelling 6-4 victory to send the game into the super tiebreak.
There, Siewdass sealed the win by battling to a 10-4 triumph for the overall win.