Canadian William Tetecky will be seeking to win the boys under 18 title at the Tobago leg of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament which serves off today at the Shaw Park hard courts.
Tetecky lost last year's crown to Mohd Assi Merzuki of Malaysia 6-1, 6-1. The Canadian is one of 15 foreign players who are in the main draw. Tetecky's compatriot Jack Van Slyke, Mexico's Jorge Oretgon, Stefan Cooper and Alex Hagon (Great Britain), Brazilians Pedro Cavalcante and Anthoy Mendez and Colombian Santiago Salazar are all expected to battle for top honours.
Among the ladies, Bahamian Fed Cup players Danielle Thompson and Simone Pratt, along with Kylie McKenzie and Ryan Peus of the USA are expected to lead the field.
The local challenge in the boys competition is led by the Abraham twins Joshua and Ty, who will be playing on their home courts and hoping to improve on their runner-up finishes in the double competitions in St Lucia (August 13-17) and St Vincent and the Grenadines (August 19-23).
The Abrahams are among eight T&T players in the main draw. Ryan Thomas, Brandon Gregoire Shaffie Mohammed and Timothy Davis were hoping to join them but were eliminated in the qualifiers which were held on Saturday and Sunday. Breana Stampfli will be hoping to break her second place streak and capture the girls under 18 trophy after she was beaten in the finals in St Lucia and St Vincent.
Stampfli was eliminated at the semifinal round in 2012. Kazia Koroma, Shania Millington, Dominique Coutain, Makalah Goodridge, Juliet Campbell and Danielle Devenish are also in the main draw and are expected to confirm their participation at the signing-in which took place from 4 pm at the Shaw Park Courts.
The draw for the Under 18 division will be made after close of registration at 6 pm.
In the COTECC Under 14 competition which also serves off today, Jean-Phillipe Murray of St Lucia and Ukpioronfo Okolo of Grenada are the top seeds among the boys. This, after the round robin stage which took place on Saturday and Sunday. Both, along with Adam Scott of T&T won all three matches. Murray finished ahead since he did not lose a single match while Okolo lost one and Scott four.
The under 14 main draw features nine local players of the twelve. Flynn Von Waldau heads the field in the consolation division which is made up of only local players. Candace Cook and Emma-Rose Trestrial top list among the girls' main draw.
The pair played unbeaten in the round-robin leg with Cook getting the top seed after losing just four games as opposed to Trestrail's 15. Defending Girls champion Daynelle Des Vignes failed to make the main draw and will feature in the consolation category. Des Vignes won the RBC Tobago Under 12 Singles and Doubles trophies last week.
The first round gets under way at 10 am after the opening ceremony at 9 am.
Adam Esclante and Kobe James will feature in the first match of the day in a boys under 14 main draw clash.
Sunday's Results of Under 18 and COTECC Under 14 qualifiers
Under 14 Boys
Group 1
Jean-Philippe Murray (St. Lucia)
bt Che Andrews (T&T) 4-0, 4-0
Group 2
Ukpioronfo Ikolo (Grenada)
bt Danyel Angus (T&T) 4-1, 4-0
Group 3
Mickel Alexander (Grenada)
bt Joshua Arnold (T&T) 5-4 (4), 4-0
Group 4
Scott Hackshaw (T&T)
bt Samir Elattwy (T&T) 4-0, 4-2
Group 5
Flynn Von Waldau (T&T)
bt Rahsaan Wilkinson (T&T) 4-1, 4-1
Group 6
Lui Chin (T&T)
bt Kobe James (T&T) 4-0, 4-2
Aaron Chan (T&T)
bt Edward Laquis (T&T) 4-2, 4-2
Under 18
Boys qualifying knock out round
Saturday
Antony Mendez (Brazil)
bt Ryan Thomas (T&T) 6-2, 6-0
Henrique Freitas Salles (Brazil)
bt Brandon Gregoire (T&T) 6-1, 6-0
Ethan Saal (USA) bt Ibrahim Shaffie Mohammed (T&T) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
Simon Lewis (Barbados) bt Matheus Furlaneto (Brazil) 6-2, 2-5, 3-1 (retired)
Andrew Symmonds (Barbados) bt Allen Thornes (USA) 6-1, 6-1
Yesterday
Simon Lewis (Barbados)
bt Ethan Saal (USA) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
Gui Gomes (USA) bt Henrique Freitas Salles (Brazil) 6-1, 6-1
Andrew Symmonds (Barbados)
bt Timothy Davis (T&T) 6-0, 6-0
Antony Mendez (Brazil) bt Matthew Foster-Estwick (Barbados) 6-1, 6-2
Order of Play Today
Under 14 Singles Main Draw-First round: Adam Escalante (T&T) vs Kobe James (T&T), Che Andrews (T&T) vs Samir Elattway (T&T), Lui Chin (T&T) vs Joshua Arnold (T&T), Scott Hackshaw (T&T) vs Danyel Angus (T&T)
Consolation-Quarter final: Andrae Crawford (T&T) vs Johnaton Edwards (T&T), Flynn Von Waldau (T&T) vs Edwards Laquis (T&T), Samuel West (T&T) vs Michael Ramdial (T&T)
Doubles-First round: Danyel Angus/ Rahsaan Wilkinson (T&T) vs Johnaton Edwards/Andrae Crawford (T&T)
Quarter finals: Mikel Alexander/ Ukpioronfo Ikolo (Grenada) vs Joshua Arnold/Kobe James (T&T), Edwards Laquis/Samuel West(T&T) vs Scott Hackshaw/Adam Scott (T&T), Aaron Chan/Flynn Von Waldau (T&T) vs Adam Escalante (T&T)/Jean-Phillipe Murray (St. Lucia).
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