THE?ROAD?TENNIS RIVALRY between Christ Church and St Michael will rage intensely this weekend in the National Sports Council’s Inter-parish finals at Dover.
Using home court advantage and superior skills, Christ Church claimed the Veterans, “A” Class and “B” Class tickets when the semi-finals train stopped at Vauxhall on Tuesday night.
Thus, it will only be in the Women’s category, where Kim Holder of St George will meet Suzanne Scantlebury of St Michael and the juniors, where Emar Edwards of St George and Dario Gaskin of St James will battle, that there will be no Christ Church challenge.
Gaskin of the Coleridge & Parry School had competed for St Michael last year, and on Tuesday night he continued a tough battle with Darius Gaskin after rain had interrupted the contest in the third set on Monday night. Gaskin fought back from 17-19 in the decider to take the match 21-18, 18-21, 22-20.
The Christ Church team then started the trek to another parish finals, with Simon Bayne using a mixture of chops and deft touches to stop Bruce Pounder 21-16, 21-11 in the “B” Class.
A nervous newcomer Kamal Durant then sealed the deal by edging Terry Dottin 21-15, 19-21, 23-21 to eliminate St George.
The veterans’ semi-finals were the battle of the “chickens”, with Christ Church defeating St George, thanks to Ian “Chicken” Yearwood and Glen “Chicken” Harris.
First-timer Harris set the tone by plucking Goulbourn Bailey 22-20, 21-14 in a contest that swung back and forth.
However, there was no such challenge when Yearwood moved to his third finals by disposing of Patrick Craigwell in commanding style, 21-14, 21-8. Craigwell did win some fans and big points with his trademark smashes through the legs.
Christ Church’s “A” player David Arrendell then lit up the court with some explosive shots as he blew Neil Greaves of St Lucy off the court 21-11, 21-13.
Getting so low that his knees often scraped the ground, Arrendell played a game of cuts, chops and defence spiced with brilliant smashes that Greaves could not match.
Kerry “TC” Francis, however, ensured that the large group of supporters from St Lucy did not return home totally disappointed as he came from a set down to beat Christ Church’s main player, Marson Johnson, whose defeat included a “sow”, 19-21, 20-22, 21-9.
Francis ignored the fact that dropping the first set allowed Christ Church’s “A” team to advance as he unreeled some of the shots which had earned St Lucy the “B” Class championships at Dover last year.
Tomorrow, the Juniors, “B” Class and Women will clash while the veterans and “A” Class will battle on Saturday.
