The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE US earned the right to compete in the IC Worldwide Final next year at Wimbledon by beating Mexico 4-0 on Monday as the IC North American 16-and-under Junior Challenge came to a close at the National Tennis Centre.

The teams were only able to play the boys and girls singles, which the USA won. Both teams had to catch a flight and they didn’t have sufficient time to play the doubles.

Meanwhile, the bronze medal went to Barbados, who also secured bragging rights for the Caribbean by holding off the Bahamas 5-1. The teams played the entire series with Barbados winning all four singles and the girls doubles, only to lose the boys doubles match-up. Andrew Symmonds was awarded the male sportsmanship of the year and the female winner was Renata Zarazua of Mexico.

IC Bahamas president Kit Spencer said they were pleased to host the prestigious tournament.

“The Bahamas put on a very successful international tournament which all the teams got great enjoyment from. There was some excellent tennis of a very high standard, especially from the Mexican and US teams,” he said. “For our relatively young Bahamas team it was a tennis experience that they will be able to benefit from enormously. The degree of sportsmanship displayed was excellent in the IC tradition of ‘Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean.’”

Spencer congratulated the American team on winning this last regional IC Junior Challenge where they can now go on to join Italy, Japan, Argentina, South Africa and Britain in the worldwide finals at Wimbledon next July. “I strongly believe all who took part were winners from the experience they had in the Bahamas both on and off court,” he said. “I would like to thank all the people who helped put on this event and made it go so smoothly.”

Tournament director Mickey Williams, expressing his gratitude to all of the captains of the teams, noted: “I trust you are all safely on your way home and have enjoyed your brief stay here in the Bahamas. I want to congratulate captain Vesa (Ponkka) and his USA team for winning the competition and qualifying for the world finals next July at Wimbledon.

“I hope all of the players will take some fond memories of new friends made and new experiences while here. Hopefully some of the players may decide to return next year for one of two ITF Jr Circuit events here. Thank you again captains for the excellent sportsmanship displayed by all of your team members, particularly Brian and Renata on winning the sportsmanship awards. Happy holidays to all and best wishes for a great new year.”

USA def. Mexico 4-0

Boys #1 Singles - Evan Zhu (USA) def. Fernando Ramirez (MEX) 6-3, 6-1

Boys #2 Singles - Brian Tsao (USA) def. Luis Flores (MEX) 6-1, 6-2

Girls #1 Singles - Usue Arconada (USA) def. Renata Zarazua (MEX) 2-6, 6-2, 11-9

Girls #2 Singles - Raveena Kingsley (USA) def. Constanza Gorches (MEX) 6-4, 6-3

Boys Doubles - not completed

Girls Doubles - not completed

Barbados def. Bahamas 5-1

Boys #1 Singles - Gavin Hutchinson (BAR) def. Joshua Turnquest (BAH) 6-2, 6-1

Boys #2 Singles - Andrew Symmonds (BAR) def. Shannon Francis (BAH) 6-3, 6-1

Girls #1 Singles - Kiana Marshall (BAR) def. Iesha Shepard (BAH) 6-2, 6-4

Girls #2 Singles - Cherise Slocombe (BAR) def. Shay’Tonya Missick (BAH) 6-0, 6-3

Boys Doubles - Shannon Francis and O’Neal Mortimer (BAH) def. Gavin Hutchinson/Andrew Symmonds (BAR) 6-4, 1-6, 10-8.

Girls Doubles - Kiana Marshall/Cherise Slocombe (BAR) def. Shay’Tonya Missick/Iesha Shepard (BAH) 6-0, 6-1.

“I’m pleased particularly with the boys. I think the boys performed very well. That made the difference against the Bahamas,” said Barbados’ captain Marie-Jeanne Symmonds.”As for the girls, they got the confidence from the boys. Your girls played very well in the second set where they made a run. But we were able to keep our composure and pull it off. I was very pleased with the team’s performance.”

Cherise Slocombe said she was just delighted that they came through.

“The match was good, but I think in the second set, I started to collapse, but I was able to pull it together at the end,” she said. “This is my first time here. It was a lot of fun. But it was tough playing against the Americans and the Mexicans, but in all we enjoyed the tournament.”

Although he was looking for a different result, Bahamas team captain Neil Mactaggart tipped his hat off to the local players.

“Our Bahamas team did the best that they could,” he said. “I have to single out Iesha because she was down and she started to fight back in a match that could have gone either way. Sadly it went against us. She played particularly well at the end. These girls are good, so are the boys. But we have a very young team.

“It’s a learning experience for us, but I think this is only a platform for us to get to the next level.”

Mactaggart said there is a lot of hope for the Bahamas because it was obvious that there is a lot of talent available here and with some extra coaching and more funding, the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association is on the right track to getting to the next level in the future.

“The Americans and the Mexicans are at a different level,” he said. “They have the funding and the support. That makes a world of a difference. They are on the big stage. We are just trying to get there. But our players and the BLTA need help. We have a lot of young players showing promise. We just have to get them to the next level.”