The juniors are throwing some punches of their own in the ‘B’ Class division of the SJ Health and Bakery Punches In Bunches Road Tennis Competition.
Three schoolboys booked their place in the quarter-finals with convincing victories when the tournament continued on Wednesday night at the Belfield court.
Keon Murrell, a 15-year-old student of Lester Vaughan, started the ball rolling when he made light work of Randy Bennett 21-18, 21-11.
After a close first set in which some careless shots by Murrell allowed Bennett back into the game, the schoolboy produced a much better showing in the second set.
Mixing aggression with solid defence, he regularly passed his opponent with powerful forehand shots on both sides of the court, on his way to easily dominating the set.
It was then a walk in the park for Darius “Barracus” Gaskin as he swept aside highly rated junior Dario Hinds in straight sets 21-11, 21-17.
It was the second successive competition in which Gaskin has ousted his arch-rival, after also eliminating Hinds at the semi-final stage in the Youth Development Programme Silver Hill Championships earlier this year.
Unlike that three-setter, however, Gaskin was ruthless and clinical in his execution on his home court, as he completely dominated the first set.
After falling behind 8-12 in the second game, Gaskin regrouped to reel off nine of the next ten points, building a commanding 17-13 lead.
A lack in concentration from Gaskin saw Hinds mount a desperate comeback, but in the end it was a case of too little too late for the junior champion of the 2012 Inter-Parish Road Tennis Championships.
Coincidentally, Emar Edwards, who lost to Hinds in that final at Dover, also advanced to the next round by registering a comfortable 21-17, 21-10 win over Jerry Harris.
In other “B” Class matches, veteran Andrew “Cripple” Holder had a hard fought 21-18, 21-17 victory over Wayne Grazette, and Gary “Kojak” Thomas had to dig deep before eventually overpowering Terry Dottin 21-15, 17-21, 21-18 in the only contest of the night which went to three sets.
In the lone “A” class match, Marson Johnson showed Andy Lashley no mercy, administering two consecutive sows to the dreadlocked veteran, 21-4, 21-7.
Jeffrey “Borah” Best also advanced after Charles “McEnroe” Griffith failed to turn up. (RB)
