Sisters Em-Miryam and Abba Campbell-Smith have confirmed their places in the girls’ singles final of the Under-14 COTECC Summer Bowl Tournament that is being played at the National Racquet Centre (NRC) on Orange Grove Road, Tacarigua on Wednesday.
It is the first time that two sisters have booked places in the final at the tournament.
Both players continued their string of impressive performances with victories in their respective matches. Abba, 11, the 2023 National Tennis Under-12 Doubles Champion of St. Monica’s Prep is also a double-crown winner at the Catch National Junior Tennis Championship at the same venue, turned back second-seeded Shiloh Walker in their semifinal contest 6-1, 6-2 on court six on Tuesday.
Abba, the younger of the Campbell-Smith siblings, has played unbeaten throughout the tournament, from the qualifiers at the weekend to the main draw semis.
And only the day before, she disposed of St Lucia’s Jaelyn Henry in two sets 6-0, 6-3 for the right to be among the top four players in the tourney.
Her sister Em-Miryam, 13, of St Joseph’s Convent Port-of-Spain holds the local record for the most overall titles for a T&T player in the COTECC region, shook off a defeat by Karissa Mohammed on Saturday in the qualifiers, to clobber her sister Lilly Mohammed 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal yesterday.
Em-Miryam had beaten her compatriot Taegan Yeates the day before, but today, it could be a matter of whether to go hard or be easy against her sister.
The pair are the daughters of former Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Daryl Smith, who4-1 have stood out in junior tennis over the past two years.
Meanwhile, among the boys, Josiah Hills earned a berth into the semis with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over second-seeded Nirav Dougdeen. With his victory, he became the lone T&T player to have qualified for the round of four.
The other semifinalists are El Salvador’s Mateo Gutierrez who prevailed over top-ranked Dimitri Kirton of Barbados 6-2, 6-3 on court 5; Cyril Alhil who clobbered T&T’s Darius Rahaman 6-1, 6-4; and Brandon Bridgewater of Curacao who took two sets to get rid of Zane Kirton of Barbados 7-6 (2), 6-0 in the other quarterfinal contest.
Meanwhile, in the Consolation playoffs, Karissa Mohammed cruised to the final with a 4-1, 5-3 victory over Suri Ramcharan, where she will meet the top-seeded Cyra Ramcharan who, on court 11, defeated Elyse Ferguson 4-1, 4-2.
In the boys’ consolation, Jaysean Wells, Justin Horsford, and Barbadian Ammon Archer progressed to the semifinals, courtesy of respective victories over Brian Harricharan 4-2, 5-4(2), Gabriel Mansoor 4-1, 4-0 and Noah Blanc 5-4(2), 4-1.
