Downes/Panday cop GBTI Men’s Open Doubles title…Resaul captures Boy’s Open Singles crown

Jun 23, 2016 Sports

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The Men’s Open Doubles category of the GBTI Independence Jubilee Open witnessed

an interesting shake up this year when Anthony Downes formed a new partnership with Harry Panday, instead of Jason Andrews, for a shot at the Men’s Open Doubles crown. The duo fought their way through to compete with Leyland Leacock/Nicholas Fenty in the final on Monday evening.

Downes/Panday won the toss and opted to serve. At 40-30, they held service by Downes acing Leacock to gain a 1-0 lead. It was Leacock’s turn to serve at 0-1 and he and Fenty managed to attain a 40-0 lead, but Downes/Panday shocked the pair by bringing the game to deuce and broke their serve to secure the break in set at 2-0. Downes/Panday again frustrated the Leacock/Fenty pair by holding service after being at a 0-40 deficit, dominating the set at 3-0. The match saw Leacock/Fenty rose to secure their first game of the set after facing two grueling deuce points. Serving at 3-1, Downes/Panday again held serve as their rivals pushed them to a triple deuce game to lead at 4-1.
Fighting for a chance to recover in the set, Leacock/Fenty serving at 1-4, lost service after committing a double fault at 30-40, propelling Downes/Panday to lead at 5-1. Panday stepped to the baseline to serve at 5-1. He and Downes experienced a surprising surge in points to win the game after being down 30-40. Leacock/Fenty squandered their opportunity to break their opponent’s service by making three consecutive on-force errors. After smashing a ball out of court, netting another point and lobbing a ball out of court, the duo lost the set at 1-6 as Panday held serve.
Leacock/Fenty improved in the second set, by making a defining statement after leading at

40-15 and smashing an un-returnable ball to Anthony/Panday to lead at 1-0. Downes/Panday held serve to even games at 1-1 due to two back to back aces on their rivals. The break in set was earned by Leacock/Fenty as they held serve at 2-1. Afterwards, Downes/Panday fought to once again even the score at 2-2 by holding serve. As the match intensified, Fenty served for his team and came awfully close to losing his service at 15-40, but the pair’s tactics worked in their favour by bringing the game to deuce and ultimately holding serve.
Downes/Panday relentlessly held on serve to be neck and neck at 3-3, but Leacock/Fenty reclaimed the lead at 4-3 after treading dangerously close to a deuce point at 30-40. Serving at 4-3, Downes/Panday’s service was broken, increasing Leacock/Fenty’s lead to 5-3. They narrowed the gap to 4-5 by imitating their rival’s previous game of breaking serve, and grappled to a 5-5 in games as to even the score for the fourth time in the set. Noticing the set was slipping out of their hands, Leacock’s outbursts of frustration increased as Downes/Panday were too close for comfort. They lost their service game, forcing Downes/Panday to make the move needed to secure the set.
Serving at 6-5, Downes/Panday faced a lengthy triple deuce ordeal as Leacock/Fenty tried their best to push the ball wide of Panday with hopes of forcing the set to tie break. Downes supported his partner with the difficult short and wide balls and drew unforced errors from Leacock/Fenty to win the set at 7-5. Downes/Panday’s new partnership was proven successful as they were crowned Men’s Open Doubles champions at a match of 6-1, 7-5.
On their way to the finals L. Leacock/N. Fenty def H. Resaul/J. Kalekyezi 6-3, 6-1 and A. Downes/H. Panday def K. Abrams/B. Dalip 6-0, 6-0. Meanwhile, After witnessing defeat in the Men’s Open Singles Quarterfinals against his coach, Heimraj Resaul was destined to make a name for himself in the Boy’s Open Singles Finals as he competed against Keenan Persaud. Resaul’s powerful serves and topspin ground strokes awarded him a break in at 2-0, after breaking and holding serve. Serving down two games, Persaud repeated his rival’s trend by holding and breaking serve to even at games at 2-2. Resaul sought to hinder Persaud’s resurgence by securing his service game to lead at 3-2. Unfortunately, there was no stopping the Persaud train, as his rallies forced Resaul to make unforced errors, enabling him to secure four consecutive games to capture the set at 6-3.
Eager to cause a rift in the match after witnessing Persaud’s remarkable rise to a first set victory, Resaul altered his technique to take on his opponent. At advantage of 3-1, Resaul denied Persaud the opportunity to gain traction in the set by breaking service to rise to a 4-1 lead. Persaud’s visibly frustrated demeanor was the perfect storm for Resaul to use to his advantage, whisking away the two games needed to hold the set at 6-1.
Resaul was fueled to perform at his utmost best after losing in the Boy’s Open Finals of the GBTI sponsored tournament just a year ago to Mark McDonald in a close three set match of 3-6, 7-6, 7-5. His family’s support and motivation from peers empowered him to pull a third set at 6-1. At game set match, Heimraj Resaul was crowned Boy’s Open Singles champion at 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 against Keenan Persaud.

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