Perennial islandwide finalist for Christ Church Dave Arrundell rescued an otherwise dull night at the Silver Hill Road Tennis Championship with a flurry of shots on Wednesday night.
In his relaxed style, Arrundell moved from a 3-0 deficit against an extremely fit Barbados Defence Force player Terry Smith to trounce his opponent 21-9, 21-14 and join the big guns in the last 32.
Smith seemed in control when he rushed to a 3-0 lead with some scintillating smashes. Arrundell then calmly turned the tide by playing every ball into his opponent’s backhand, neutralising Smith’s attack. Even so, Smith still attacked and lost numerous points by hitting into the net or out of court.
Arrundell played with sheer class with his deft touches and masterful passing shots almost handing Smith a double “sow”.
The game woke up the large crowd of spectators, who were numbed by the dreary hour-long match between Trevor Callender and Chesterfield Winfield. Callender eventually limped to victory 22-24, 21-18, 21-12. Were it not for the comic relief of the plays made by both Winfield and Callender, more of the spectators would have left the venue.
Im the other open match, Adrian Walcott outplayed Desmond “Hatcher” Wooding 21-14, 21-16.
The B class games saw 12-year-old Nicholas “Nik-Nik” Ellis, toppling another adult by stopping Shawn Browne 23-21, 21-14.
Ellis’ older brother, Tashawn Ellis was not so good as he was beaten by Anthony Forde 18-21, 21-16, 21-17. Nicholas Mathias defeated Karon Jordan 21-16, 18-2, 21-15. Pierre Nurse stopped Kalvin Prescott 21-15, 21-19.
The competition continues today from 6 p.m. (KB)
