The research has been done and an analysis of the red hot Antoine “Lil Man” Daniel’s style of play has been conducted.
Now defending champion and No. 1 seed Mark “Venom” Griffith boldly says he will pass the examination should he meet the No. 2 seed, Daniel, in the Independence Day final of the lucrative Massy United Clash Of Titans road tennis tournament which serves off at The Villages at Coverley, at 6:30 p.m. today.
With the richest purse in the history of local road tennis – $12 000 – going to the winner on November 30, Griffith says he is ready to atone for losses to Daniel in Silver Hill and at Coverley.
“I believe my chances are great because I have put in a lot of work through the past couple of months.
“Antoine Daniel has defeated me in the past two tournaments [but] I promise, it shall not be a third,” Griffith told SUN SPORT in an interview at last Thursday’s Players reception at Bagatelle Great House.
“To my fans and everyone else out there in the tennis supporting world, I give them my word,” Griffith remarked, adding he has been studying Daniel’s strengths.
“I have DVDs of the two games where he defeated me and many more, that I am studying up to now that give me a general idea of how he plays, his pet shots and his preferred game,” Griffith revealed.
But Daniel, fresh from winning last month’s Monarchs Of The Court’s $10 000 first prize, has warned Griffith that he must bring an “A” game to defeat him, as not even a bout of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus will stop him from playing his trademark shots.
“I am trying hard to get rid of it because chikungunya or not, I’m playing in this tournament,” Daniel said.
“Right now, it slowed me down a little but I still putting in some practice at times to make sure that I’m still accurate, hitting the ball on the court.”
Daniel is confident about reaching the November 26 semi-finals and then advancing to the final at The Ranch on Spring Garden Highway.
“A lot of men play road tennis but when it boils down and reachs semi-finals and finals, there will be four players that will be there as long as they don’t meet each other [in early rounds],” he said.
He reckons the returning Anthony “Black Dog” Richards and veteran Jeffrey “Borah” Best are both capable of reaching the last four even though the favoured four would be Griffith, No. 3 seed Curtis Jones, perennial champion Julian “Michael Jackson” White and himself.
“I am not saying I can’t be beaten but anytime tennis playing, I have a great chance of winning also,” Daniel said.
White, who lost to Daniel in the Monarch Of The Court final after defeating him in the preceding Silver Hill tournament, plans to intensify his training.
“I usually play four days a week and rest three but I think for this tournament, I probably would just step it up a little more,” he said.
“I would take Friday as an off day and try to get in as least six days as practice.”
While White believes he should reach the semi-finals and probably the final, he isn’t under-estimating anyone.
“I believe that you shouldn’t count your chickens before they are hatched because it all depends on what happens on the night [but] I think my chances will be pretty great.
“I still got to look at other individual players because some players that we have overlooked at times, on a given night, can knock out the same Mark “Venom” Griffith and Antoine or any of the top players,” observed White.
Tonight’s schedule will serve off with St Philip’s Ryan Hall opposing 2013 S&J Health Bakery junior king, Keon Murrell. Some other interesting encounters will be exciting junior Darius “Barracus” Gaskin against Ian “Chicken” Yearwood; veteran Anthony “Baku” Simmons versus Jim Haynes and Davian “Force Ripe” Taylor against Dwayne Hope.
Former Barbados table tennis champion Abbie “Playboy” Clarke will also be in action when he faces Hanson Chandler, while Andrew “The Governor” Holder will face Alan Davidson.
