Shae Martin emerged a triple crown champion when the curtain came down on the Barbados Badminton Association’s 2014 Junior National Championships on Thursday at the Wildey Gymnasium.
Martin capped a super week, by teaming up with new partner Keshem Moore to win the Under-17 Boys’ Doubles with a confident 21-18, 21-15 decision over Nicholas Sobers and Kodie King.
He led the way throughout with solid support from Moore, and was extremely effective with his cross-court drop shots at the net and his smashing, for which neither Gaskin nor Arthur had any answer.
Earlier in the evening Martin cruised to a victory in the mixed doubles category, as he and long-time partner Amanda Haywood defeated John Cupples and Krystal Clarke 21-9, 21-4.
However, it was not as easy in the singles tournament, as Jehu Gaskin pushed him to his limits during the contest. Despite losing the first game Gaskin came out fighting and led late in the second, but Martin’s deceptive strokeplay allowed him to pull away to win 21-15, 21-18.
But it wasn’t a perfect time for Martin. He also tried to conquer the Under-19s, but Sabeel Foster proved he is still the one to beat within the upper rankings of junior badminton.
Foster teamed with Cory Fanus to defeat Martin and his partner D’Andre Thorpe in the boys’ doubles final 21-16, 21-16.
The victory was Foster’s second on the night, as he had defeated Thorpe 21-19, 21-18 to secure back-to-back crowns in the singles category.
Thorpe was able to effectively move Foster to all areas of the court during that singles final to set up some easy cross-courts smashes, but simply didn’t do it enough, and eventually lost a grip on the match.
Even though he was caught out of position many times, Foster demonstrated excellent footwork and speed to the bird, and with pure grit and determination fought back and won the game.
In the second stanza, the diminutive Foster employed more of the same and with the scores locked on 12, put the game out of reach by scoring seven unanswered points.