RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY, come again another day.
Organizers of the National Sport Council’s Inter-Parish Road Tennis Championships will no doubt be humming that tune after inclement weather forced them to postpone the semi-finals for the third successive time.
Friday and Sunday night at Vauxhall, Christ Church, along with Saturday night’s event at the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) headquarters were all rained out, although tarpaulins were used to cover the courts.
And with the grand finale slated for this weekend at Springer Memorial School in Government Hill, St Michael, organizers and players will be hoping for sunny skies.
These delays only help to further substantiate the need for an indoor facility for road tennis.
Despite the interruptions, the fans who journeyed to watch the semi-finals were still treated to some exciting matches over the weekend.
Although his fabulous run in the 15 and Under competition came to an end at the hands of Justin Hinds, nine-year-old Kajay Sealy delighted the crowd with his steady play and charming personality.
Playing with a paddle ball-size racquet, he regularly earned rapturous applause from the crowd whenever he engaged Hinds in long rallies.
Hinds, though, is one to watch out for in the future as the 15-year-old southpaw regularly left his opponent a mere spectator with breathtaking shots on both sides of the court.
Former women’s champion Sandra Bailey continues to turn back the hands of time with solid performances.
The veteran player completely outplayed St James’ Juliette Worrell 21-9, 21-13 on her way to notching another finals berth.
So dominant was Bailey in the contest that she still managed to sow her opponent in the first set although the score was locked at 7-7 early on.
Worrell did play some sizzling forehand shots along with some unplayable injections that brought the crowd to life, but committed too many unforced errors.
St Michael’s Darius “Barracus” Gaskin, highly touted as one of the island’s best juniors, defeated St Thomas’ Kyle King 21-12, 23-21 to book his spot in the finals.
He was clinical in the opening set against a nervous-looking King, dictating the match with his usual aggressive style of play.
King put in a much better showing in the second set and would consider himself a bit unfortunate not to have forced a third.
Over the weekend Aaron Douglas was crowned the new BDF champion after defeating Terry Smith 21-16, 3-21 in an entertaining contest.
After dropping the opening set and trailing 13-20 in the second, Smith launched a remarkable comeback that saw him take the lead at 21-20. However, with victory in sight, he would fail to win another point, relinquishing his title to Douglas in the process.
