T&T’s Josiah Hills booked a spot in the boys’ semifinals of the Confederation of Tennis of Central America and the Caribbean (COTECC)/(Junior/Infantile Tennis International Championships (JITIC) Under-14 Tournament in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, Tuesday.
This was after Tobagonian Hills, ranked second, powered past Mexico’s Luis Carlos Hernandez 6-2, 6-0 in their quarterfinal and meets fourth-seeded Honduran Samuel Romero Flores Nieto today for a place in the final after the latter dumped another Mexican, Antonio Aguilar Solabac, in their quarterfinal at the El Salvador Tennis Federation Hard Courts.
In the round of 16, Hernandez was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Guatemalan Ian Lemcke, while Mexico’s Solabac and Nieto won versus Costa Rican Hector Cruz, 6-3, 6-3, and Mexico’s Sebastian Rueda, 6-3, 6-3, respectively.
On Monday morning, Hills first completed a perfect 5-0 round-robin win-loss record in Group Two with a straightforward 6-0, 6-0 win over Honduran Paulo Alvarez before he dispatched Costa Rican Fabian Pozuelo 6-0, 6-1 in their main draw round of 16.
And in the main draw Boys Doubles, Hills also combined with Barbadian Zane Kirton for a quarter-final win against Costa Ricans Alejandro Gonzalez and Julian Morales 6-1, 7-6(4).
The four other T&T boys in the competition, Dylan Clifford (1-4), Justin Duncan (0-5), Rohan Ramcharitar (0-5) and Eli Paty (1-4), all missed out on qualification to the main draw and were relegated to contest the Second Draw Tournament, where they all suffered first-round defeats.
In the second draw round-of-32, the T&T quartet also suffered straight-sets defeats in their opening matches in the round-of-32, with Clifford falling to Nicaraguan Antonio Rivas 0-6, 0-6, while Duncan was stopped by El Salvadorean Ignacio Fernandez 1-6, 2-6; Ramcharitar was humbled by Bolivian David Meza Versalovic 2-6, 4-6; and Paty was sent packing by Guatemalan Pablo Garcia Acevedo 2-6, 3-6.
The T&T quartet then contested the Second Draw Consolation round of 16, with Clifford exiting against Panama’s Gabriele Parcells 0-6, 2-6; Ramcharitar bowing out to El Salvador’s Rafael Delgado 3-6, 5-7; Paty being ousted by St Vincent and The Grenadines’ Ethan Kent 3-6, 0-6; and Duncan losing to Josejuan Betancourt of Puerto Rico, 1-6, 4-6.
And in the Boys Doubles Grade Three, Duncan and Paty were beaten by El Salvadorans Andres Cruz and Rafael Delgado 1-4, 1-4, while Clifford and Ramcharitar suffered a 2-4, 0-4 defeat at the hands of the Dominican Republic’s Sebastian Hernandez and Eliezer Santos.
Bain stopped in the girls’ main draw last-16 tournament.
T&T girls Makeda Bain was stopped in the Girls Under-14 Singles main draw by Mexico’s Renata Lopez 0-6 and 2-6.
This was after Bain ended round-robin play on Monday morning with a 4-1 record and in the second spot in Group Six after a 6-0, 6-0 win over Costa Rica’s Valeria Ortiz, adding to triumphs against Guatemalan Cristina Cruz (6-3, 6-3); St Kitts & Nevis’ Briella Lake (6-0, 6-0); and Honduran Fernanda Yacaman (6-0, 6-3), with her lone loss coming versus another Honduran, Adrianna Bonilla, the group winner (0-6, 3-6).
In the girls’ doubles, Bain and Costa Rican Jimena Salas Castro were ousted in the quarterfinals 1-6, 0-6 against Mexicans Camila Gonzalez and Elsa Boiko.
Suri Ramcharan also went into her final match in Group Three with a slim chance of advancing to the main draw but went under in her must-win meeting with Costa Rican Jimena Castro (2-6, 6-1, 8-10) to end with a 2-3 record, while in Group Four, Samiyah Mohammed finished her campaign with a 2-3 as well, and in Group Seven, T&T’s Teijha Wellington ended her series on a high with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Honduran Miranda Escoto to make amends for her previous four defeats.
The trio of Ramcharan, Mohammed and Wellington were then consigned to the second draw, where they failed to advance as well.
This was after Ramcharan was overpowered by Guatemalan Victoria Aguilar 3-6, 4-6; Mohammed was upstaged by Yacaman 3-6, 6-7(1); and Wellington was beaten by the Dominican Republic’s Elaine Martinez 1-6, 2-6.
In the Second Draw Consolation last-16 series, Ramcharan and Mohammed won by default against host players Sofia Gutierrez and Valeria Ortiz, respectively, while Wellington was handed a bye to the quarterfinals.
In the Girls’ Doubles Grade Three, Ramcharan and Costa Rican Abigail Varela defeated Guatemalans Cristina Cruz and Juliana Uribe 4-0, 1-4, 10-8 but then exited in the quarterfinals to Costa Rican Amanda Leon and Yacaman 1-4, 2-4, while Wellington and Puerto Rican Yareisie were beaten by Guatemalans Victoria Aguilar and Natalia Soto Ochoa 1-4, 3-5.
Mohammed paired with St Kitts/Nevis’s Briella Lake for a clash with Hondurans Valentina Noe and Helena Valerio Kattan after press time.
