FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD Kaipo Marshall is the Barbados Sol national male junior tennis champion.
Playing in the final of the Under-18 boys singles last weekend, Marshall had a comfortable come-from-behind victory over Kyle Frost 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 at the National Tennis Centre.
Marshall also defeated the No. 1 seed Romani Mayers in the semi-final 7-6, 7-5.
The loss against Marshall was a disappointment for 16-year old Frost who had dropped only three games in three matches on his way to the final.
However, it was Mayers who got his revenge against Marshall in the Under-16 final which he won in three sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
With players permitted to enter three age groups for the first time, Marshall, playing in the Under-14s made no mistake, defeating Kyle Griffith 6-1,6-0 in the final. Marshall won his second title dropping only five games in his three matches.
Hannah Chambers recently back from the 12-and-Under ITF Caribbean Team Championships in Curaçao, continued her winning ways, capturing the Under-12 and Under-14 national titles.
Chambers defeated rival Amelia Dickson in a very close match 6-3, 1-6,7-6 in the Under-14 final after beating Gabrielle Leslie 6-3,6-0 in the semifinal.
Chambers had a perfect record in singles in Curaçao, winning all five of her singles matches including a victory over the Jamaica Under-12 No. 1, with the strong Jamaican girls team placing first overall.
The Under-16 national girls champion for the first time is Tangia Riley-Codrington who defeated Leslie 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
Leslie reached the final of the Under-16s with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Dickson while Riley-Codrington booked her place in the final with an early round win over Chambers 7-5,6-0, and a walkover in the semis over Alesha Alleyne who withdrew from the singles due to injury.
Girls No. 1 seed Ilana Blackwood is the Under-18 national champion. Ilana, currently No. 870 in the ITF junior rankings after a successful summer on the regional tournament circuit, did not drop more than four games in a match on her way to a comfortable 6-0,6-3 victory over Riley-Codrington in the final.
In the Under-12 final it was Callum Dickson who defeated his friend and rival Lance Castagne-Clairmont 8-3.
Both boys had also represented Barbados at the 12 and Under ITF Caribbean Team Championships in Curaçao with Dickson having a 4-2 record in singles including a victory over the Trinidad and Under-12 No. 1 player.
Chambers won the girls Under-12s national girls title, ending undefeated in the round robin. Serena Bryan was the runner-up.
The national championships continue at the National Tennis Centre with action in the seniors divisions this week followed by the Open events. (PR)
