Karissa and Lilly Mohammed, daughters of national tennis ace Shenelle Mohammed, had their names written into the history books, along with other young budding players, when the Point Fortin Borough Corporation held its Non-Contact Youth Development Tournament at the Coronation Park over the weekend.
Karissa, the youngest participant in both the Green Dot and Yellow Ball categories at nine years old, claimed the title in the Yellow Ball for older players when she cruised through the group and semi-final stages to set up a showdown with her sister Lilly, who moments before, had gotten the better of her in the Green Dot play-off.
In that final (yellow ball), the two were inseparable at the end of the lone set 6-apiece, before Karissa the Point Fortin Roman Catholic School Primary School student, prevailed on the tie-break 8-6.
It was sweet revenge for her after her older sibling (Lilly) prevailed in the green dot round-robin play-off by beating all her competitors which included her younger sibling Karissa.
Meanwhile, little Kaylon Wiltshire of Point Fortin RC was also unstoppable in the Orange Ball play-off for boys, quickly moving to a maximum six 30 points from three wins. In a group of four players, Wiltshire disposed of Rahim Toussaint, the eventual runner-up in the group, Veerindra Persad and Shiraz Ali for his title.
In the yellow ball for boys, Juan Fernando made light work of his competitions in his group before advancing to the final where he defeated Joel Jeffrey 6-2 to be crowned champion. Like the yellow ball for girls, the boys were required to play a round-robin play-off that led into a semifinal and final, where Juan Jose was third and Tayshawn Hamlet was fourth.
Meanwhile, the pair of Pharrell Philbert and Issa Jack romped to victory in the Men's Pro-Am tournament, whipping the team, of Deryck Murray and Joseph Francis in the final 6-4.
The combined team of Raffeek Mohammed and Sean Nicholson secured third in the men's doubles play-off while Askia Richard's and Joshua Nanco were fourth.
The tournament, held with the intentions of reviving the sport of tennis in the Point Fortin and environs, attracted many dignitaries, including the area's Member of Parliament Kennedy Richards, Mayor Seelima Mc Cree Thomas and Leslie Pascall, the Chairman for Sports at the Borough whose initiative it was to have the tournament.
Afterwards, Pascall described the tournament as a really good one from which they were able to unearth new talent. "From this, I saw the need for lights at the Coronation Park facility, so I will be pushing hard to make sure the facility is upgraded and players' abilities are realised."