WHENEVER TITANS CLASH, epic battles are always expected.
And on Tuesday night, David Arendell and Adrian “Dan” Skeete provided just that when the United Insurance Clash of the Titans Road Tennis Competition continued at the Wildey Gymnasium.
By the time their hour and 45-minute encounter had come to an end at 11:35 p.m, Arendell had outlasted the highly favoured Skeete 19-21, 21-19, 27-25 in one of the longest matches in recent history.
The unheralded Shawn Spencer set the stage for what was to come when he upset veteran Anderson “St George” Sealy 21-18, 23-21 in the evening’s first match.
Lloyd “Dickman” Burke was then surprisingly defeated by Shibbir Greenidge 21-15, 20-22, 21-19, while Terry Dottin convincingly outplayed No. 7 seed, Michael Jean in straight sets, 21-12, 21-17.
The youngsters also continued to give a good showing with junior Kyle King notching an impressive 21-15, 21-16 win over Winston “Ballies” Padmore, although his fellow compatriot Keon Murrell wasn’t as fortunate, going down 13-21, 10-21 to Chester “Boy Boy” Brewster despite playing some delightful tennis.
Number three seed, Mark “Venom” Griffith was brutal in his demolition of Edwin “Blackman” Ward, handing him two sows, 21-9, 21-8 in an embarrassing defeat, and Anthony “Ears” Mitchell had a routine win over Terry Duncan 21-13, 21-15.
In the standout match of the tournament so far, Arendell and Skeete put on a clinic throughout their marathon match.
Skeete, a left-hander known for his aggressive style of play was mostly subdued for the majority of the contest, as he adopted a more defensive approach.
That led to fewer errors on his part, and after trading points early on, he built a 14-8 lead, thanks mainly to some unforced errors by his opponent.
Arendell continued to fight back, though, and he regularly returned Skeete’s smashes from way beyond the baseline, much to the crowd’s delight.
It enabled him to close the gap to two at 16-18, but after a fantastic 28 ball rally which Skeete won to lead 20-19, he eventually went on to win the opening set.
Skeete looked set to wrap up the contest in straight sets, jumping out to an early 6-1 lead in the ensuing set.
But Arendell fought back to level the score at 8-8, before Skeete once again went on another run to open up a three point advantage (14-11).
An obviously fatigued Arendell refused to give up though, and after locking the score at 19-19, his powerful forehand flick whizzed past Skeete on his way to capturing the second set.
The story followed the same script from the preceding games, with Skeete taking the initiative early on to take a 7-2 advantage.
And he seemed like holding on this time around as he built an 18-15 lead against his opponent.
Despite another comeback from Arendell, Skeete held match point at 20-19, but sent a forehand into the net to deuce the game.
The 45-minute set came to an end when Skeete first sent a backhand into the net and another wide, to give Arendell a well-deserved victory.
