The St Michael deadly duo of Antonio “Lil Man” Daniel and Mark “Venom” Griffith are expected to maintain their dominance when the Inter-Parish Road Tennis Finals climax at the Christ Church Foundation School hall tomorrow and Saturday.
Both St Michael and Christ Church, who have won more titles than any other parish in the previous seven editions of the islandwide competition, will be battling in six of the 12 finals, which were mysteriously postponed from January 5 and 6 without explanation.
St Michael will compete in the “A” class along with the Under-13 Boys and the Boys 14-18. Christ Church will battle in the “B” Class as well as the Under-13 Boys and the 14-18.
The draws were to be made yesterday at the NSC to determine the match-ups. However, those match-ups could be meaningless for St Michael in the “A” Class as St Thomas have the daunting task of the cocky Davien “Force Ripe” Taylor and the flamboyant Aaron Barker having to meet either Daniel or Griffith.
St Michael’s deadly duo of Daniel and Griffith are expected to easily take the “A” Class men and $10 500.
To deny St Michael, Taylor and Barker must win one of the match-ups and then take a probable tie-breaker. Neither Taylor nor Barker seem capable of beating Griffith or Daniel.
Even if an upset occurs in the square-off, then either Taylor or Barker would have to score a second defeat on Griffith or Daniel on the same night, which defies most odds.
In the absence of Sheldene Walrond, who was out of the island and did not take part in the parish competition, Kim Holder is also heavily favoured to claim her sixth successive women’s finals and take home $5 000 to St George when she meets Abigail Haynes of St Thomas in their final.
Walrond has thwarted Holder in numerous finals of late, but the same cannot be said of Haynes.
In addition to the women’s finals, St George will also feature in the Masters finals with Terry “Puncher” Dottin and the consummate chopper, Kirtman Harewood, looking to defend the crown captured in 2015. No competition was held in 2016.
St George will meet St Thomas, who will fancy their chances of an upset with Rickey “Body Doc” Hoyte and former national volleyballer Gregory “Coach” Gill looking to win one of two finals for their parish. The contest will be keen since Hoyte and Dottin are evenly matched, and so too are Gill and Harewood. A tie-breaker might be needed to determine the Masters champion.
St Michael should win the Under-13 Boys with the exciting Shakeem Nurse meeting the lesser experienced Dominic Browne of Christ Church.
Southpaw Ezekiel “Ezee” Ward’s soaring skills should see him giving Christ Church the 14-18 crown when he meets the talented Shaquan Henry of St Michael.
Christ Church should take the “B” Class as well, with the enigmatic Gary “Kojak” Thomas and entertainer Jamar “Bob” Best meeting St Joseph’s Terry “Buh” Nurse and Terry Duncan.
Both teams needed tie-breakers to reach the finals and the draws could also see a similar scenario if Thomas meets Nurse and Duncan takes on Best, with potential losers Best and Nurse facing for a probable win.
Christ Church should win without a tie-breaker if Thomas takes on Duncan and Best draws Nurse.
Thus, of the six titles on offer, St Michael and Christ Church should claim two each.
St George are expected to take the women’s, with both St George and St Thomas having equal chance to reign in the Masters. (KB)
