The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

THE second day of the IC Bahamas’ inaugural Nassau Cup tennis tournament attracted more players as the competition intensified over the weekend at the John McEnroe Tennis Centre at the Baha Mar resort.

The tournament got a big inspirational boost on Saturday as Kit Spencer, the 79-year-old president of the IC Bahamas, helped to win a match for the Paradise Island team.

Also during the day, Jamal Adderley teamed up with O’Neal Mortimer to win their pair of matches for the Rum Club, while Philip ‘PJ’ Major Jr and Rodney Carey Jr paired up for Paradise Island to win two matches.

And tournament organiser Alexander Murbach and Caitlin Drake-Lozzie paired up in mixed doubles to win a pair of matches for the Rum Club.

In matches played, Paradise Island won 2-1 over Cable Beach and Lyford Cay; the Rum Club blanked Harold Road 3-0 and held off Harold Road 2-1; and Lyford Cay shut out Harold Road 3-0.

Going into the semifinals and finals of the tournament on Saturday, February 8, the Rum Club has accumulated a total of 10 points; Lyford Cay follows with seven, Cable Beach has six, Paradise Islands five and Harold Road trails with two.

Major Jr, who is currently coaching a number of junior players on Paradise Island, said it was good to finally get a chance to play some top notch tennis against his peers at home.

“I think this is something that has been missing in the community so this is an awesome event and a great way for the community to come together,” he said. 

“This is something that we are missing in our country so I’m happy that the IC Bahamas has decided to take the bull by the horn and is doing something like this in the community.”

After helping the Paradise Island team to make their presence felt on Saturday, Major Jr said he;’s looking forward to the final week of competition on February 8.

Hopefully they can go all the way to the final and hopefully s=coree the inaugural tournament title.

Despite the “windy conditions” they played in on Saturday, Murbach said they couldn’t ask for a better showing.

“The wind is very tricky. at least we don’t have the sun in our faces,”  Murtbach said. “It’s only good for the tournament because the competition is getting tougher going into the final week.”

Murbach said they got to see Major Jr playing for Paradise Island; the Lyford Cay Club has added Julio Vldez teaming up with Shannon Fracis; the Rum Club has added O’Neil Mortimer to play with Jamal Adderley.

All these players are playing on their respective teams, but Murbach said each team has to be concerned about their B and C teams because if they don’t concentrate on them, they could fall short of getting in  the final when they wrap up the tournament on February 8th.