Josiah Hills starts strongly at ITF/COTECC U14 tennis

After being crowned Sagicor Junior Tennis Tournament boys' Under-14 singles champion on Saturday, TT's in-form Josiah Hills had a winning start to the International Tennis Federation/Central American and Caribbean Tennis Confederations SR4 Under-12 Development Team Championships at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua on Sunday.

Hills defeated two Vincentians by similar margins to record a strong start to the regional tourney.

In his opening match, he defeated Nathaniel Lawrence 6-0 601 and then eased past Lawrence's countryman Matthew Clarke 6-1, 6-0.

Up to press time on Sunday, matches were still ongoing.

For this tournament, 12 young players have been selected to represent TT. The tourney served off on Sunday and TT will feature four teams – two boys’ and two girls’. The boys’ team one is made up of Josiah Hills, Jacob Jacelon and Oliver Harrigan while team two includes Jack Brown, Christopher Khan and Sebastian Plimmer.

Ronald Robinson and Keshan Moonasar are their respective coaches.

For the girls, Makeda Bain, Cherdine Sylvester and Suri Ann Ramcharan comprise team one while Abba Campbell-Smith, Cyra Ramcharan and Karissa Mohammed are team two. They are being coached by Darcelle Charles and Trevine Sellier respectively.

A statement by TennisTT on Saturday said “As host nation, TT is eligible to submit two teams each for boys and girls respectively. The athletes representing our country have all emerged at the top of their groups during local trials, and are all elated for the experience.

“For this tournament, 15 countries are expected to participate which works well towards the local tennis thrust of expanding opportunities for its junior athletes.”

These meets serve as the start of a busy two months of regional and international meets at the Racquet Centre.

They also fall in line with the association’s Summer of Tennis Events second edition and augur well for TennisTT’s “strategic focus for achieving set national and tennis-specific goals.”

The other upcoming tournaments are Davis Cup Americas Group IV (July 31 to August 5), ITF Regional Coaching Advance Players (CAP) coaching certification course (August 10 to 21), ITF Junior U18 Circuit Summer Bowl (August 19 to 26), COTECC U14 Circuit Summer Bowl (August 19 to 24), ITF Junior U18 Circuit Carnival Cup (August 26 to September 2) and SR4 U12 Circuit Carnival Cup (August 26 to 31).

Team selection for the Davis Cup Group IV Americas is currently underway.

TennisTT’s statement added, “Hosting these tournaments provide the opportunity for local athletes to compete with other international athletes right at home, and share in a skill-building experience.

“It allows for the honing of tennis skills as they play against players of varying styles and abilities and it opens the playing field for local athletes to gain points and improve on their local and international rankings.

“Building on points and rankings are critical factors for budding tennis athletes as it enhances the chances for those athletes who hope to secure scholarships in foreign universities.”