The big boys finally came out to play at the third Silver Hill road tennis championships and played really rough on Sunday night at the Silver Hill Court.
Competing in front of Member of Parliament, Minister Stephen Lashley and a large crowd, the aggressive Antoine Daniel showed that Silver Hill cannot blunt his smashes as he beat Simeon Harewood 21-14, 21-15..
The 2012 losing finalist, Victor “Earth” Ward, then shook off a slow start to blast Terry Dottin 21-17, 21-5.
Those two matches ignited the excitement for the final three that went the distance as the combatants battled all the way.
Firstly, former Caribbean volleyball MVP Ivor Lashley used his endless attacking and long reach to scare the flamboyant Aaron Barker, before Barker, a former national table tennis player and Spartan Division 1 cricketer, won 18-21, 21-18, 21-14.
Lashley was in colourful form as he attacked to take the first game and battled back from 11-17 to 17-18 to almost take the second before Barker conjured up some of his own magic. After receiving his playing shirt on the night of the match to be caught wearing non-coordinating coloured shoes, the usually sartorial matching Barker needed his stylish forehand and immaculate backhand to stop Lashley and advance to the 16.
Damien “Force Ripe” Taylor then showed that he could play and not just talk the game as he stopped David “Ja Paul” Phillips 21-13, 15-21, 21-19.
Taylor, who normally works behind the scene in the camp of defending champion Mark “Venom” Griffith, started tensely which allowed Phillips to seize the advantage 7-3.
Taylor settled to play some tremendous smashes that pushed back Phillips who relies on a defensive style.
Storming to 13-7 and 13-11, Taylor was rattled by a controversial call where he hit away five consecutive smashes, handing Phillips the advantage and game. However, Taylor regained his composure to take the decider with a cross court gem after leading throughout the game.
Jeffrey “Bing Crosby” ended the night with a victory over Shabbir Greenidge.
