Spectators who attended the finals of the Belfield Road Tennis Club/SJ Health And Bakery Limited Road Tennis competition last Saturday night were treated to some high-quality road tennis.
Julian “Michael Jackson” White romped to his 33rd road tennis title by defeating Anthony “Ears” Mitchell in the “A” final in convincing style 19-21, 21-13, 21-18, 21-16.
It was tennis at its best, with both players constantly engaging in lengthy rallies consisting of elegant and powerful forehand and backhand strokes, much to the delight of the large crowd.
Despite losing the first set, in the end it was White who reigned supreme, dropping his racket and raising his hands in the air after Mitchell drove his forearm shot into the net to signal White’s victory.
In the “B”?final, John “Floats” Cumberbatch comprehensively defeated Junior “Big Arm” Boucher in straight sets 21-19, 21-14 to lift the title.
Cumberbatch was in ripping form, using his “chopping” forearm to good effect and causing Boucher to constantly go on the defensive.
And when Boucher tried to play his opponent’s weaker backhand, after two or three rallies, Cumberbatch duly ran around his backhand, opting to use his forehand instead.
Seemingly cruising at 19-14 in the first set, several unforced errors from Cumberbatch allowed Boucher to close the gap to just one point (19-20).
But after defending so well, an erratic forehand stroke by Boucher cost him the game as he tried to attack a ball which he should have defended.
Cumberbatch never trailed in the second match and turned a close 13-13 score into a comfortable 17-13 lead before coasting to victory.
In the junior shotgun competition which preceded both the “B” and “A” finals, Kyle King rallied from behind to defeat Keon Murrell 21-18.
Trailing 11-14 at one point, King dug deep to take advantage of some unforced errors by Murrell to lock the scores at 15-15, before going on to grab the junior crown.
Mark “Venom” Griffith’s poison was too much for Lloyd “Dickman” Burke in the “A” shotgun final, with Griffith “Pigging” Burke 21-8.
