Cain, Stephens dominate Kingalarm tennis series
Top seeds Damani Cain and Michaela Stephens emerged champions of the Under-18 boys’ and girls’ singles divisions at the Kingalarm Junior Tennis Series at Eric Bell Tennis Centre last Saturday.
Cain, who is currently the dominant junior player on the local Under-18 boys’ singles circuit, defeated unseeded John Azar Jr in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to capture the title. In the semi-finals, Cain had knocked out Carlos Wilson 10-6, while Azar Jr eliminated unseeded Mario Campbell 10-3.
On the girls’ side, Stephens, who has been the top junior player, defeated her two opponents in the round-robin format to win the title. She beat Abigail Perue 6-1, 6-1 in the final.
Stephens had earlier taken care of Kobi Wilcott 10-0, while Perue also bettered Wilcott 10-0.
Russell Fairman, top seed in the boys’ Under-16 singles, defeated fourth seed Delano Reeves in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to win the final. Fairman bettered third seed Joshua Graveney 10-7, while Reeves knocked out second seed Cole Mcnair 10-9 (10-8 super tie break) in their respective semis.
Perue returned to justify her numberone rank in the girls’ Under-16 singles, defeating unseeded Courtney Chin in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. In their semi-finals, Perue beat third seed Kalila Morris 10-5, while Chin put away second seed Thande Sampson 10-4.
Second seed Jairdan Gibbs won the boys’ Under-14 singles title with a 4-0,4-2 win over the unseeded Jamar Parkinson. In the semis, Gibbs, who dropped the first set rallied to beat Delano Reeves 2-4, 4-3, 10-6 in the super tie-breaker set, while Parkinson came from a set down to better fourth seed Kosei Gibbs 3-5, 4-2, 10-7, also in the super tie-breaker set.
In girls’ Under-14 action, third seed Thande Sampson came from a set down to defeat fourth seed Courtney Chin 3-6, 6-3 10-7 (tie-breaker set). Sampson had beaten Zarah Buchanan 4-2, 4-1 in her semi-final, while Chin knocked out top seed Eva Pinchas 4-1, 4-1.
Kosei Gibbs, the top-ranked player in the boys’ Under-12 category finished tops thereafter registering a 6-4 win over fourth seed Daniel Moe. Gibbs had defeated Mikale Williams 4-1, while Moe knocked out second seed Leo Cuff, in their respective semi-finals.
Parkinson also returned to stamp her class on the girls’ Under-12 division, bettering unseeded Asalee Morris 4-2 to win the title. Both Parkinson and Morris had easy passage to the final after their opponents failed to show for the semis.
The pair of Mario Campbell and Keyondre Clarke captured the boys’ Under-18 doubles title with 6-0, 6-1 scores against the pair of John Azar and Karan Chatari. Stephens and Perue won the girls’ doubles title, bettering the pair of Aanchal Khemali and Kobi Wilcott, 6-1, 6-1.