The top two-ranked players in both the men and women's divisions, Will Lee and Reece Marcano, and Chequeda De Boulet and Amara Urquhart each won their two matches played when the T&T Badminton Association (TTBA) inaugural ‘Top 10’ Tournament served off at the National Racquet Centre, Orange Grove Road, Tacarigua on Wednesday night.
In the men's competition, Lee won his Group A opener against Kyrese Tobias 21-4, 21-9 and then swept past Zamir Ali 21-11, 21-4 for a 2-0 start in his five-player round-robin series while the second-ranked Marcano defeated Mikael Joachim 21-19, 21-12 and Verone Salick 21-13, 21-0 in his two Group B matches.
In other men's Group A matches, regional junior champion Vishal Ramsubhag topped Ali 21-8, 21-10 and Jason Ramjass whipped Tobias 21-10, 21-11 while in Group B, Travis Sinanan beat Salick 21-17, 21-12 and Joachim battled past Rondell De Freitas 21-18, 21-8.
Among the women, De Boulet was a comfortable 21-14, 21-12 winner over Kara-Ashley Robertson before she spanked Sidney Morris 21-1, 21-1 in Group A while Urquhart was made to work hard for a 21-18, 15-21, 21-17 win against her sibling Aliyah Urquhart before stopping Isabelle Waller 21-11, 21-15 to stay unbeaten in Group B.
In the other matches played, Tenniya Tobias beat Morris 21-11, 21-13 and Robertson humbled Zyah Holder 21-16, 21-19 in Group A while Janiah Boodoosingh overcame Waller 18-21, 21-19, 21-19 and Aliyah Urquhart defeated Cheynne Bhola 21-19, 21-15 in Group B.
At the end of the two round-robin pools in each of the men's and women's competitions, the top two players in each pool will advance to cross-over semifinals, ahead of the third-place playoff and final. The tournament continued last evening and resumes today from 6 pm.
