Akilah Jones walked away with several accolades on Saturday when the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association hosted its Tennis 10s Inter-Schools Competition at the New Guyana School tennis court.
Nine-year-old Jones, of Green Acres, smiled prettily as she collected the trophies for Best Girl, Most Talented Player and Best School (on behalf of her school). After playing four rounds of competition and 10 matches, she proved her potential to become Guyana’s top seed by triumphing in every match. Sunnah Sealy of Redeemer Primary also displayed some feistiness as she kept the ball in play, coming in the second position.
In the Boys Category, Quincy Williams of FE Pollard Primary copped the first place by winning three rounds and seven matches, displaying consistency. Vinicius Spricigo of Gisele Primary came second.
A total of nine boys and twenty-seven girls were selected to compete. In addition to the named schools, participants also came from St. Pius Primary, Stella Maris Primary, Marian Academy Primary and Mae’s Under 12 Primary. The Round-Robin format was used to give the players an opportunity to play many matches against the participants from other schools and the number of matches won was used to determine the winner.
At the post competition ceremony, GLTA president Grace McCalman thanked the New Guyana School for hosting the competition and reiterated the association’s commitment to revitalising its junior programme.
She called on parents and teachers to ensure that physical and competitive activities are maintained for children, as it contributes to their ability to focus and excel in their academics. McCalman also pointed out that the Roraima Tennis Club was well represented for the first time in this competition where, also for the first time, the number of girls heavily surpassed the boys.
Meanwhile, General Manager of the New Guyana School, Alphonso De Armas Jr who attended most of the matches, was enthusiastic about the competition and pledged his school’s commitment to the activity, even as it develops its own programme.
National Junior Tennis Coordinator Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan said she was optimistic about the future of tennis with this new crop of young players and hoped that parents and teachers make a special effort to support physical activities.
