National junior tennis players Makeda Bain and Josiah Hills, and senior Yolande Leacock, came in for high praise from the Tennis Association of TT (TennisTT) for their recent performances at regional and international tournaments.
Topping the list of achievers was Bain, who won girls' U14 doubles gold and singles silver at the recently concluded COTECC Junkanoo Bowl U14 meet in the Bahamas.
In the doubles final, Bain teamed up with Bahamian Tatyana Madu to trump another combined pair of Curacao's Keziah Fluonia and Bahamas' Briana Houlgrave in the final.
Fluonia/Houlgrave won the first set 7-6(5) but Bain/Madu rebounded in set two for a 7-6(6) win. The TT/Bahamian duo then emerged 10-4 victors in the tiebreaker to snatch gold.
Ironically, in the girls' singles final, Bain lost 6-0, 6-3 against doubles partner and the division's first seed Madu. Bain still earned silver.
In her semi-final match, the TT player upset second-seeded Bahamian Sarai Clarke 6-4 in the first set, lost the second 7-6(2) and clawed back in the final to win 6-1.
Unluckily, Hills was eliminated 6-2, 6-4 in his round of 32 tie against Nevis Marcos of Curacao.
This tournament attracted 40 top juniors from nine countries.
Prior to the tourney, both Bain and Hills took part COTECC's first high-level four-day training camp for English-speaking countries in the region. Altogether, 12 of the best U14 athletes within the region attended the camp and five countries were represented; Barbados, Bahamas, Curacao, St Lucia and TT.
Additionally, TennisTT also recognised Leacock, who participated in the women's division at this year's Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile. Leacock's appearance at the Games was her return to the tennis stage after a four-year injury.
A TennisTT statement on Thursday said it 'applauds the efforts of its nationals in their quest for tennis excellence.' It added that the association was proud to acknowledge 21 national junior athletes who currently hold International Tennis Federation (ITF) rankings. This is a welcomed increase from TT's 19 juniors, at the end of 2019.
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