by KENMORE BYNOE
?This time snatching victory from the jaws of defeat was required for Julian “Michael Jackson” White.
The “World Boss” of road tennis moved his tally of national road tennis titles to 40 when the delayed finals of the NCF Tennis In Bridgetown tournament were held on Wednesday night at the Deighton “Pa” Roach Tennis Centre in Bush Hall, St Michael.
White came from a set down and what appeared to be a pending defeat at 16-19 in the decisive third game, to take the final from rising challenger Mark “Venom” Griffith 12-21, 21-15, 21-19 in a topsy turvy encounter in front of a large crowd.
The competition was part of the 2014 Crop Over calendar, but darkness and then the staging of the popular Silver Hill tournament had delayed the completion of the matches which were played initially in Bridgetown.
With White and Griffith engaging in their trademark long rallies, Griffith drew first blood as White made some unforced errors.
However, the island’s most consistent player stormed back to control the second game with leads of 7-3, 16-8 and 20-12 before closing out easily.
White trailed in the decider 3-6 before locking the scores at eight and 13, to then lead 14-13 and 15-14 before Griffith showed greater determination in locking the scores and then taking the advantage.
When Griffith advanced to 19-16 with a gem snicking the corner of the court to leave a bemused White standing motionless, Griffith started a premature celebration.
However, White played a flawless latter half of the game to catch, pass and defeat Griffith 21-19 in the decider.
Earlier, Dario Hinds avenged his loss to Emar Edwards in the Silver Hill finals to take the juniors’ title 21-17, 11-21, 21-17.
