Squires, Humphrey win Singles titles

Nov 11, 2009 Sports

– Alphonsos grab second Doubles title

By Rawle Welch

For the second match in a row, defending champion Phillip Squires had to come from behind to turn back the challenge of another young and upcoming player Ezra Sue-Ho to etch his name for the fifth straight year on the Pegasus Open Tennis Shield.

He defeated Sue-Ho 6-7 (0-7), 6-2, 6-2 in the Men’s final last Monday night, at the Hotel’s Hardcourts to maintain his winning streak which started since 2005.

Over 35 and 45 Doubles champions Wayne & Clinton Alphonso display their hardware following the presentation ceremony last Monday.

Just as he had done in his previous encounter against another rising star Anthony Downes, Squires used his experience and cool temperament to ensure that he hold the title for another year at least, while the youngsters would have to wait further to get a crack at the master.

In the Ladies final, last year’s beaten finalist Berbician Carol Humphrey went one step better this time after inflicting a 6-1, 6-2 schooling on 15 year old Shauna Gentle.

In the feature clash, Squires and Sue-Ho battled closely in the opening stanza, forcing a tie-breaker to separate them which the hard serving Sue-Ho claimed emphatically.

However, the experienced Squires, who has won the title for the past three years changed tactics, not wanting to engage Sue-Ho in a slug fest, but rather executed some heavy top spin returns that created a number of errors from his opponent.

He raced to a 4-1 advantage after breaking Sue-Ho three times.

Sue-Ho held once more and staged a brief rally, saving match point on at least 11 occasions, before Squires eventually hit a well placed forehand winner down the line to come within one game of levelling the contest.

He quickly put Sue-Ho under pressure on his service in the eighth game, squeezing ahead 30-40, before breaking to even the battle.

Even as Sue-Ho maintained his powerful forehand and sharp angles, he could not keep his focus and consistency, uncharacteristically committing many unforced errors as Squires unleashed his full repertoire of ground strokes interspersed with some top spin forehands to run away with the title.

The Ladies clash was a one-sided affair with the vastly experienced Humphrey using her superior power and well placed ground strokes to keep the exuberant, but clearly outclassed Gentle at bay.

In the end, it was too much all round superiority for the young Gentle to deal with and she succumbed easily.

In other final results:

Men’s 35 Singles:

Andre Lopes def. Rudy Grant 6-4/6-1.

Men’s 45 Singles:

Rudy Grant def. Harry Panday 6-4/7-6 (7-3).

Men’s Doubles:

Phillip Squires/Godfrey Lowden def. Clinton Alphonso/Wayne Alphonso conceded.

Mixed Doubles:

Ezra Sue-Ho/Shauna Gentle def. Phillip Squires/Aruna Ramrattan 6-7(4-7)/6-1/7-5

Men’s 35 Doubles:

Clinton Alphonso/Wayne Alphonso def. Don Singh/Omar Persaud 6-2/7-6(7-5).

Men’s 45 Doubles:

Clinton Alphonso/Wayne Alphonso def. Maxie Fox/Steve Surujbally w/o

Men’s 55 Doubles:

Maxie Fox/Steve Surujbally def. Roy Rampersaud/Bobby Khan 6-1/7-5

Boys 18 Singles:

Jeremy Miller def. Anthony Downes by walkover.

Girls 18 Singles:

Shauna Gentle def. Aruna Ramrattan

Boys 14 Singles:

Seanden David-Longe def. Brian Ramsudh

Girls 14 Singles:

Krystal Sukra def. Tania Niamatali 6-0/6-0

Boys 12 Singles:

Brian Ramsudh def. Asif MohamedGirls 12 Singles:

Nicola Ramdyhan def. Afruica Gentle

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