The National Sports Council may not have such a category for their 2014 awards and my vote may have little significance. However, I still vote that road tennis was the number one sport in Barbados in 2014 and that the number one player is Antoine “Lil Man” Daniel.
My good friend and former director of youth affairs Richard Carter always used to reprimand me for trying to defend the indefensible. Thus, when the Mark “Venom” Griffith factions were haranguing me to agree that Griffith was the number one road tennis player in the land and that 41 national titles won by Julian “Michael Jackson” was to be dismissed against two Silver Hill and one Clash Of The Titans earned by Griffith, I kept quiet.
However, with 2014 done and dusted and the top three players in the land making sizeable deposits to their bank accounts, thanks to Massy United Insurance, Dale Clarke and the Professional Road Tennis Association, the irrefutable facts are documented.
In 2014, former junior and senior national champion Daniel returned to the arena after 15 years absence to reach three finals in three tournaments. He won one of those finals while beating Griffith twice and Jackson once, while losing once to both players.
Daniel won the most money in 2014, $10 000 from the Monarchs Of The Courts, $6000 from the Clash Of The Titans and $1000 from Silver Hill for a combined earnings of $17 000.
Griffith won $12 000 from the Clash Of The Titans and he ended outside of the money after losing to Daniel in the Silver Hill and Monarchs Of The Courts battles. While White’s $8 500 pay was earned from Monarchs Of The Courts,
$5 000, Silver Hill $2 000 and Clash Of The Titans, $1 500.
If the PRTA loyalists would ask for a separation of their competitions to determine the rankings then the money would show Daniel, $16 000, Griffith, $12 000 and White, $6 500.
The entertainment value alone of Daniel was responsible for the thousands who thronged the courts at The Ranch and Coverley as new and old fans wanted to see “the big belly” man playing. While Griffith and his supporters may be offended by the comparison of his style to that of Shivnarine Chanderpaul in being dour, Chanderpaul, just like Griffith, employs a style that is productive for self and team but hardly entertaining for the fans.
On the wrong side of 40, balding and with a noticeable paunch, Daniel is not the epitome of fitness but he is the fantasy of most if not all of the “vintage” fans who would visualise themselves executing such breathtaking match winners in a body that defies age and physics.
Daniel’s popularity was seen when he lost the Clash Of The Titans finals and he was still mobbed by his large fan base at Coverley. That fan base had also contributed to the tremendous success of the “too much to eat and drink” celebrations which were held in Barbarees Hill after Barbados’ number one, Daniel, had taken the Monarch Of The Court.