IT’S not the kind of crowd support the Voyager Tennis Open would have liked to see at an event organized by Tiger In FLOW Tennis Academy in collaboration with Go! Insert Repellent. It so happens that the tournament currently ongoing at the Kenneth ‘Wriggler’ King Multipurpose Court in George V Park in Castries (The Gardens) has not attracted support from sports enthusiasts.
Despite the rain over the weekend, up to this point, the tournament has produced a high level of tennis matches, from the likes of Aviona Edmund, Iyana Paul, Netanya Faissal, Lawnell Raymond, Ryan Nathaniel, Petterson George, Maxx Williams, Jean Phillipe Murray, Andre Fontinelle, Ackeem Gustave, Shamar Marcus, Manish Mahtani and brother and sister duo Louis Dovert and ViolaineDovert from who France have all played some exciting matches. Unfortunately two young females had to withdraw due to injuries (NadjemaMorille and NavitIssac)
The tournament moved into the semifinal round last evening (Wednesday 9th) which saw Aviona Edmund up against Iyana Paul, Netanya Faissal took on Jace Leon, Iesha Emile came up against Catherine Morille, Zy Richards played Maxx Williams; while the match of the evening, Jean Philippe Murray took on Ackeem Gustave. In men’s doubles, Brent St. Catherine and Shamar Marcus played Manish Mahtani and Anthony Habib.
In matches played on Tuesday 8th, on Court No. 1 in Boys 18s, Petterson George defeated Kyle Anius 6-1, 6-0; In a Veterans matchup on Court No.1, Manish Mahtani won in straight sets over Anthony Habib 6-3, 6-4; Maxx Williams continued his good run on form in the men’s category defeating the hard hitting Clent Mitchell on Court No. 2, 6-4; 6-2; Andre St. Rose had a hard fought 7-5,7-5 win over Darwin Guard on Court 1 in men’s action, Zy Richards did not stretch a muscle in his encounter as he had a walk over/ win versus Danny Augustin, Augustin failed to show up; while Akeem Gustave had a comfortable win over Omodelle Phillips 6-1, 6-0 on Court No.2.
Former national player and organizer of the tournament SirseanArlain said, “It’s being pretty good; the good thing about it, we round robin the junior division and it has given the younger players three matches in competition compared to regular tournament; we are all about development.”
“We have had a pretty high standard of play up to this point; the table has sort of gone according to script; Iyana Paul is beginning to make some noise for herself, the regular names are still in it, it would be interesting to see how the girls draw ends up.” Noted Sirsean.
The men’s finals are scheduled for this evening (Thursday 10th); while the rest of the draw/ finals will take place on Saturday 12th January.
