Kale Dalla Costa, Cameron Wong cop Catch National Junior Tennis titles

NUMBER-ONE seeds Kale Dalla Costa and Cameron Wong were among the title winners on the final day of the Catch National Junior Tennis Championships at the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua on Thursday when youngsters in varying categories were crowned.

Dalla Costa, who finished runner-up to the experienced Joseph Cadogan in the men's singles final at the Sunshine Snacks Tranquillity Open earlier this month, was in fine form when the national junior championships came to a close as he claimed titles in both the boys' under-16 and under-18 categories in convincing fashion.

After getting the better of Jordell Chapman in the quarterfinals of the under-18 category earlier in the week, Dalla Costa showed his win was no fluke as he defeated the third-seeded Chapman in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) in the under-16 final.

In the under-18 final, Dalla Costa faced a slightly sterner test when he faced the second-seeded Beckham Sylvester, but he still clinched the crown with ease with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.

In the girls' under-18 final, Wong and second-seed Shiloh Walker went face-to-face for the crown after navigating their way through the earlier rounds. Wong won the first set 6-0, then took the second set 6-4 to lift the trophy.

In the girls' under-16 final, the eventual winner Natalia Tkachenko got an almighty fight from Madison Khan en route to her straight sets win. In an enthralling first set, Tkachenko battled and willed her way to a 7-5 win, before taking the second set more comfortably with a 6-1 win.

In the girls' under-14 final, though, there was no stopping the willpower of the top seed Khan as he got a straight-sets win of 6-4, 6-4 against Lilly Mohammed in a keenly contested match.

In other final results, Nirav Dougdeen (boys' under-14), Josiah Hills (boys' under-12) and Nicholas McLetchie (boys' under-10) were all in winners' row, to go along with Teijha Wellington who came from a set down to get a stunning victory against Anaya Roberts in the girls' under-10 final.

After dropping the first set 0-4, Wellington won the second set 5-3, before sealing the title with a 10-6 win in the decisive third set.

In the junior boys' doubles final, Hills teamed up with Jaysean Wells to add to his under-12 title as they defeated the pair of Jack Brown and Christopher Khan in straight sets (6-2, 6-1).