Murray crowned Rebel Champion

Jan 25, 2016 Sports

The Men’s final of the RTC Championships closed with the biggest twist of the tournament when the unseeded Ronald Murray dashed the hopes of the number 2 seed, Leyland Leacock of being the first RTC Champion.

Leyland Leacock (left) and Ronald Murray

The skills of Leacock were heightened at the beginning of the match, hitting the ball with clean surgical precision that awarded him a 3/1 lead. This did not rattle Murray who kept his composure to quickly take back the break and return on serve.
The two matched each other to the point of 5/5 until Murray took the window of opportunity on Leacock’s serve to break and clinch the opening set. Excellent volleying by Leacock built his confidence at the net. This did not deter Murray to produce some incredible passing shots. The scoreboard pressure mounted on Leacock in the second set at 5/4 to Murray. He found himself serving to stay in the match and a focused Murray glaring across the net with the hunger to win.
Stillness hovered over the atmosphere with the toss of the ball, breathes held, eyes glued to court at the intense rally and the deadly forehand passing shot blasted pass Leacock at the net to make Murray champion. The gathering stood and cheered the two players.
The second semi-finals highlighted the hard work Carol Humphrey puts in throughout the years to still have the ability to ruffle the feathers of young Afruica Gentle. Humphrey appeared unsettled on the court and slid several times at the beginning of the match.
The young Gentle was not gentle with the ball and performed in better form than a year ago in her encounter with the veteran. In the first set, Humphrey fell as a casualty of the young Gentle.
The second set started with the same momentum when Gentle took a 3/0 lead at this point Humphrey held her first game and banished the score from her thoughts. She played more freely and marshaled better points with longer rallies.
Gentle swept the match in straight sets 6/1, 6/4 to set up a final against Cristy Campbell. This is the first meeting of the two. Number two seed, Gentle the big hitter, will have to work hard against one of the best ladies defenders, Campbell.