The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahamian Rasheed Carey and Christian Cargill continued an impressive showing for the Bahamas on the international scene as the two hooked up in the final of the International Tennis Federation’s Jamaica Junior Tournament in Kingston, Jamaica, over the weekend.

In the end, No.7 seed Carey pulled off his second title for the year with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 decision over Cargill, who was seeded No.4. Cargill also played doubles as he teamed up with Yannick James of Grenada. However, the No.2 seeds lost 6-2, 6-1 to Felipe Oyarzun from Chile and Javier Restrepo of the United States.

The performance has left the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association still beaming with excitement, considering that it followed right on the heels of the women’s team of player/captain Larikah Russell, Simone Pratt, Kerrie Cartwright and Danielle Thompson advancing to Zone One of the Fed Cup for 2014.

“Absolutely outstanding,” was how BLTA first vice president Bradley Bain described the performance of Carey and Cargill. “For a long time, when these guys were playing, we knew that they will eventually make us very proud. Rasheed, Christian, Justin Roberts, Kevin Major and others, were all in a special group.

“Now they are excelling based on the advanced training they have been getting and the tennis academy they are attending. You can see the results. This is Rasheed’s second tournament for the year that he has won. And to have Christian playing in two finals in the same tournament is just outstanding for both of them.”

Bain said although the local players have already turned in some great performances so far this year, he anticipates that it will only get better because the players are making the necessary adjustments and they are performing as expected.

Carey, who won his first tournament for the year in Puerto Rico, advanced to the final with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 decision over Yannik James.

Cargill, on the other hand, easily won 6-3, 6-2 over Jose Andres Illescas Maury from Mexico. Carey won his second round match 7-6 (5), 6-0 over Pedro Fernandez Del Valle from the United States of America and Cargill beat Matias Vargas from Bolivia 6-1, 6-1.

In the first round, Carey won 6-1, 6-2 over Andres Hernandez from Mexico and Cargill won 6-1, 6-0 over Santiago Romanos from Mexico. Another Bahamian, Treajh Ferguson, lost 6-2, 6-2 to No.6 seed Carter Lin of the United States.

Although they lost in the final in singles, Cargill and James gave it a good run in doubles. The No.2 seeds won their semifinal match 6-2, 6-3 over No.3 seeds Gerardo Penchyna Cardenas of Mexico and Arthur Stefani of Brazil.

In the quarterfinal, they won 6-2, 6-1 over Patrick Graham of Great Britain and Santiago Romanos of Mexico. Their first round victims were Americans Pedro Fernandez Del Valle and Agustin Moreno. The final score was 5-7, 6-0 (10-8).

The team of Rasheed Carey and Treajh Ferguson were not so fortunate in the first round. They got eliminated 6-4, 6-4 by the team of Felipe Oyarzun and Javier Restrepo.