By Morissa Lindsay
Last night’s conclusion of the round of 16 in the 2022 Barbados Road Tennis Open competition was like a movie thriller starring some of the very best talent on the island. While there were eight matches contested at the Belfield court in Black Rock, when stars such as Julian ‘Michael’ Jackson’ White, Shakeem Nurse, Dario Hinds and Kim Holder appeared as part of the cast, it was bound to attract a large crowd.
Nurse who is referred to as the crown prince of local road tennis given his flair and capabilities to play some of the most attractive shots imaginable, defeated Trevor Ifill 21-15 and 24-22 in a two best of three sets nail-biter. Wearing his sponsored Scotty’s Car Rental green shirt, Nurse’s shot selections were magnificent to watch and he seemingly favoured a faster paced match against Ifill who won the toss and elected to serve.
Both powerfully built players were destructive with their forehand shots, particularly Nurse who showed why he is one of the most feared young players in the sport. While the opening set was exciting, it was the second that really showed what road tennis was all about with both men going for shots and strategizing against each other.
Veteran female player Kim Holder made it look easy as she advanced at Julie Worrell’s expense.
Ifill worked out a game plan in the second set to slow down the match and forced Nurse to use his back arm a lot more as they both got down low and showed that they were equal to the task. It was a strategy that proved effective as Ifill led 20-16 in the second stanza and needed one point to equalize and force a decisive third set. However, Nurse had other ideas as the young man tied the set at 20-20 and deuced his man to the delight of the crowd.
While they both tried to play a cat and mouse game with the scores being locked 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22, it was Ifill who was found guilty of two failed returns and handed Nurse the match.
During some of the matches players had to contend with the ball getting wet due to sweat from the body getting onto it. In fact, chair umpire Tito Ellis had to warn Nurse not to tamper with the ball after he decided to roll his feet on it during the first set against Ifill.
In the other showdowns, road tennis legend Julian ‘Michael Jackson’ White defeated Dwaine ‘Hopey’ Hope 21-9, 19-21 and 21-12 when they met. As expected White delivered handsomely with a 21-9 sow in the first set playing shots in abundance as the crowd went wild whenever he produced the quality and panache that many have come to know from him.
Credit to Hope for forcing a third set as he won the second 21-19 and that resulted in the match going down to the wire. However that did not stop White from playing those crafty forehand smashes that even made Hope bow in acknowledgment. One of those splendid executions was during the third set with the scores being 11-8 in favour of White who stroked a peppery forehand shot that had those in attendance jumping in approval. It was stroke selections like those that have made White a household name in Barbados and earned him a deserving place in the round of eight.
Also advancing through to the next round was Dario Hinds who had to earn his place because of the pressure from his talented opponent Brendon Arrendel. The scores in that match were 21-16, 16-21 and 21-16 to Hinds.
Meanwhile Kerry Francis was awarded the match by chair umpire Christopher Griffith after his opponent Marson Johnson retired. Francis won the first set 21-16 and was comfortably ahead 15-2 when Johnson holding his lower back threw in the towel.
Shakeem Nurse earned a brilliant victory against Trevor Ifill. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)
Another top player was Kim Holder and she stamped her authority 21-2 and 21-15 against Julie Worrell. Two of the women’s games went into a three-set thrillers and they were Rachel Smith winning 16-21, 21-18 and 21-4 over Galeann Edwards. Meanwhile Kezia Blunt fought well but was unable to stop Jalesa Holder-Vaughn who won 24-22, 19-21 and 21-18 in a keenly contested game. Margo Lord also picked up a comfortable 21-13 and 21-13 victory over Angela Burrowes.
(morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb)
