REDEMPTION AND REVENGE.
That will most definitely be on the mind of Christ Church’s “A” class team of Marson Johnson and David Arendell as they prepare to battle the island’s two top road tennis players, Julian “Michael Jackson” White and Mark “Venom” Griffith, as the finals of the National Sport Council’s Inter-Parish Road Tennis Championships conclude at Springer Memorial School tonight.
It will be the second straight year Johnson and Arendell will battle road tennis juggernauts St Michael in the final, and both will be looking to improve on their performances from last year.
For Arendell especially, it will be a chance to make wrong things right after being embarrassingly sowed 21-5, 21-5 by White in last year’s final at Dover.
“Every athlete goes through a bad spell and that is what happened to me last year. I’ve been practising hard and I’m in top shape, and I believe that Marson and I have what it takes to bring the crown to Christ Church this year,” Arendell told SATURDAY SPORT in an interview yesterday.
Johnson will be facing a different opponent in Griffith this time around, after losing to Antoine “Lil Man” Daniel last year.
“Everyone knows that Antoine is a tough guy to play. But with him not playing this year, I’m looking to beat ‘Venom’ in two straight sets,” he explained.
“I haven’t trained this hard in about four years. I’ve been practising every day, so I will be disappointed with anything other than a win.”
Despite completely dominating Arendell in last year’s championships, White knows that tonight’s rematch won’t be as easy, and he won’t be taking his opponent for granted.
“After what happened last year, I know Arendell will be looking to redeem himself, and he will be coming out looking for revenge.
“But I am feeling very good and Arendell has never beaten me in a competitive match, so I’m not overconfident,” he said.
Griffith will be making his “A” class debut, after he successfully helped lead St Michael to the “B” class title last year.
But make no mistake about it, he’s more than up to the challenge.
“I think that this is going to be pretty easy for us. Both ‘Jackson’ and myself have been training and no one is going to get in our way,”
The two parishes will also clash in the final of the “B” class, with Christ Church’s defensive team of Victor “Earth” Ward and Simon Bayne coming up against the attacking duo of Davien “Force Ripe” Taylor and national table tennis player Aaron Barker.
The 21 and Under finals will also be contested, with St George’s Emar Edwards and St Michael’s Darius “Barracus” Gaskin set to renew their fierce rivalry when action serves off at 7 p.m..
