The second night of the Silver Hill Road Tennis Championships provided a thrilling night capper between Alexander “Fyah” Clarke and Winslow Birkette at the Silver Hill Courts on Monday night.
Many fans looking to take the last bus could not tear themselves away from the on-court action, which ended close to midnight with Clarke coming from a game down to win the marathon battle 20-22, 21-17, 22-20.
Birkette, who is almost 20 years younger than dreadlocked Clarke, used a vicious serve and crafty smashes and experience to hold the advantage over the younger opponent who hails from St Philip. The fans were impressed with Birkette, who is more known for officiating games.
However, Clarke had to curb his exuberance and eagerness to go for his smashes as Birkette soaked up every attack and responded with shots which belied his age. Ironically, Clarke almost surrendered the second game when he smashed the decider into the net at 20-19. After a tense see-saw battle in the third game, Birkette punched the ball into the net to give his opponent the victory 22-20.
Earlier Anderson “Chef Andy” Smith served up a meal too potent for Junior “Big Arms” Boucher, with Smith coming from a first-game loss to win the match 21-23, 21-11, 21-15. Peter Moore blew away Rommel Griffith 21-14, 21-14.
The other open matches saw Fernando Brathwaite dismissing Tyrone Evelyn 21-16, 22-20 and Michael Jean dropped Gregory Herbert 21-9, 21-11.
The B class matches proved to be entertaining with Hakeem Ellis beating Jeff Browne 21-18, 21-17, Desmond “Hatchet” Wooding carved Henry “Bird” Rawlins 21-8, 21-10, Peter “Bucky” Johnson stopped Nicholas “Nick-Nick” Ellis 21-19, 21-15 and Adrian Walker stepped on Calvin “Beetle” Prescott 21-14, 21-12.
Those fans who do not get to Silver Hill for tonight’s action will not want to miss the clashes on Sunday night when most of the big guns like Antoine Daniel, Julian “Michael Jackson” White and two-time champion Mark “Venom” Griffith will be making their first appearance.
