It was a tough day for the country's Under-16 girls on Monday in the RBC Junior Tennis Tournament at the National Racquet Centre in Orange Grove, Tacarigua, as only Naomi Mohammed, the eldest daughter of former national player Shenelle Mohammed, tasted victory among them.
Mohammed, who faced compatriot Malia David on court 12 didn't last too long, dishing up her counterpart in two straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. It was the bright spark that stood out among the gloomy defeats for teammates Shiloh Walker and Ana Sanchez on the day.
Walker, entering the tournament as the top-ranked player, received a shocker from Iyana Paul of St Lucia 6-4, 6-2 on court six, while Sanchez was pushed aside by Janae George-Alexander in two sets, 6-1, 6-0, on the adjacent court five.
The results had spelled disaster for T&T on the day as both players were scheduled to square off later on to try and muster a win each.
Among the boys' U-16s Jordell Chapman kept all hopes alive in a fluctuating affair with Guyana's Gerald Scotland, coming back from a first-set loss 6-4 to prevail in the end 6-3 and 10-4 in the round-robin affair.
Things were brighter in the U-14s division yesterday with the top-ranked Makeda Bain overcoming Amia Marie of St Lucia 4-2, 4-0; Cyra Ramcharan defeating Cherdine Sylvester 1-4, 4-1, 10-4 in an all-T&T contest; and Charde Sylvester beating Karissa Mohammed 4-2, 4-1 on the 11th court. Lilly Mohammed was the only U-14 player to be beaten on the day by regional opposition, going down 4-0, 4-2 to Antigua's Jolie George-Alexander.
Meanwhile, in the U-10 division, T&T's Zachary Anthony continued his winning ways with a battling 4-1, 0-4, 10-7 victory over Malik Bain; Ryan Chan overcame Harrison Hadeed 4-2, 2-4, 10-4; and Dhruv Rambhajan clobbered St Lucia's Riley Smith 4-0, 4-0, while in the girls' equivalent, only the walk-over victory for Teijha Wellington over Shaena Phillip, stood out amongst a litany of losses.
