The Farfan and Mendes Junior Skill Level tournament at the Georgetown Club courts saw its second night of competition on Wednesday and first for the top category A players. Daniel Islam was on form, defeating new comer to the category, young Samuel Ince-Carvalhal, in three straight games.
The first game Daniel easily dominated to win 11-1 as Samuel found his feet playing in the big league. But Ince-Carvalhal came back fighting and proved his right to be there with excellent retrieval, managing to earn some exceptional points in the second and third games; seven and five respectively.
However, Daniel’s experience, shot selection and superior execution dominated the match, leading to victory for the top seed.
The other two Category A players, Anthony Islam and Taylor Fernandes, battled out their first match of the tournament; both displaying fluid court movement and excellent control. Islam worked hard to put the ball past the towering Fernandes, but her skill at cutting off his efforts made the task too much and she took three straight games 11-7, 11-8, 11-9.
Meanwhile, in the lower Category G, Matthew Daby and Jnae Singh showed resilience and determination with the first game moving from point to point up to a final push by Matthew after levelling at 21, where he took the next two points to win 23-21.
The second game looked set to follow the same when the players were at 10-all, then 11-all, before Matthew found it again to take the next two to 13-11.
The competition is heating up and each category has displayed great skill, including a stellar performance by Michael Alphonso, great potential from rising stars Rylee Rodrigues and Tiana Gomes in their match, and notable improvements in both Verwey brothers; Nicholas and Joshua.
The week ahead is sure to showcase more talent from the junior players and highlight the next generation of players. Results of the matches played Wednesday evening were as follows.
Category A
Taylor Fernandes beat Anthony Islam 11-7, 11-8. 11-9
Daniel Islam beat Samuel Ince-Carvalhal 11-1, 11-7, 11-5
Category B
Michael Alphonso beat Kirsten Gomes 11-8, 11-1, 11-2
Category D
Jahcinta Adams beat Isabella Ramjohn 11-4, 11-4, 11-4
Dhiren Persaud beat Beau Fernandes 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4
Chad DeAbreu beat Aishani Persuad 11-1, 11-9, 11-7
Category E
Rayad Boyce beat Arvin Seelall 12-10, 11-9
Lajuan Munroe beat Angel Rahim 11-1, 7-11, 11-5
Jared Saul beat Noah Rahaman 9-11, 11-8, 11-5
Joshua Verwey beat Grant Fernandes 11-5, 14-12
Category F
Matthew Spooner beat Brenno DaSilva 3-11, 11-5, 11-6
Rylee Rodrigues beat Tiana Gomes 11-8, 12-10
Leshaunte Berkley beat Kayden Pynaendy 8-11, 11-9, 12-10
Thandi Dean beat Jehan Singh 9-11, 11-6, 11-4
Category G
Shriya Persaud beat Nicholas Sawh 11-6, 11-4
Matthew Daby beat Jnae Singh 23-21, 13-11
Safirah Summer beat Alea Ruplal 11-8, 11-5
