TT U-14 tennis players advance to 1-8 playoffs

TT’s Under-14 tennis team yesterday advanced to the first to eighth playoffs at the WJT Boys North/Central America and Caribbean Pre-Qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic after defeating the Bahamas 2-1 for a second victory in as many days.

The result saw TT end the penultimate day of group play in second spot and with a good chance of winning the group ahead of the other unbeaten team, Costa Rica. That match will play today.

Jamal Alexis captured another singles win before Bahamas drew level in the second singles event. Alexis then paired with Saqiv Williams after Bahamas to seal the win after an arduous day of tennis.

Alexis opened for TT against Anthony Burrows and took away a relatively comfortable 6-4, 6-4 victory.

The second singles event was an already gruelling encounter between TT’s Luca Shamsi and Bahamas’ Michael Major as it went into three sets. Shamsi went under 6-2 in the first and took the match to a third set after a 6-2 win. There, however, was a rain delay in between which meant the match went on past three hours with the Bahamian eventually sealing the win, 3-6 in the third set.

TT then featured a different pairing from the one which won their doubles match on the opening day as Alexis replaced Shamsi to partner with Saqiv Williams. It was another enduring match-up which went the complete distance, 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-6, in favour of Alexis and Williams against Burrows and Major, the same two players who featured in the earlier singles events for the Bahamas.

Meanwhile, TT’s Group C rivals Costa Rica also won their second group match, defeating El Salvador 2-1. Added to their 3-0 win over the Bahamas on the opening day, yesterday’s result meant they finished day two on top the four-team standings.

Today, both TT and Costa Rica will face their stiffest tests yet when they face each other in the group decider.

The top two teams will advance to the first to eighth playoffs, while the bottom two teams will scrap for the 9-16 place playoffs.