The deadly combination of Gilbert Barckoy and Lealon Leacock enjoyed a commanding two-set victory against Dax Hutson and Schelte Van Dyke to advance to the semi-finals of the men’s open doubles of the Banks DIH Plus Energy Open lawn tennis tournament last Tuesday at Le Meridien Pegasus lawn tennis courts.
Barckoy and Leacock exhibited superior placement along with patience and hard hitting shots from both players to help them overcome opponents Hutson and Van Dyke 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the men’s open doubles.
The victors won with relative ease as their opponents Hutson and Van Dyke committed numerous unforced errors including many double faults.
With momentum on their side, Barckoy and Leacock made no mistake and played superior tennis to ensure that their opponents had no chance of negating their early lead.
To add the finishing touches to a well-played match, Leacock and Barckoy turned up the intensity to bring the second and final set to a close, serving lightning aces at will.
Meanwhile in the other quarter-final match of the men’s open double, junior competitors Jonathan Antczak and Nicholas Glasgow fell to the more experienced Oswen Coggins and Saevion David-Longe in a nail-biting encounter ending 5-7, 7-6(9-7), 6-3.
Antczak and Glasgow were on the way to pull off an upset when they grabbed the first close first set 7-5, but when David-Longe and Coggins fought back to win a closer tie-breaker in the second set, the momentum shifted, and Coggins/David-longe went on to claim the match.
Earlier in the evening Alice Ali raced to a two-set victory ahead of Effani Doobay 6-3, 6-1, to advance to the semi-finals where she is set to play Shelly Daly.
In the last match of the evening, the expertise of local tennis legend Andre Lopes disposed of Harry Panday in the semi-finals of the over-35 men’s singles.
Passing showers earlier in the evening led to some of the matches being rescheduled while Carlos Adams and Steve David-Longe gained walkovers from Wayne Alphonso and Clinton Alphonso, respectively.
Ladies Open Singles:
Alice Ali def Effani
Doobay 6-3,6-1
Men’s Open Singles:
Anthony Downes def.
Jason Andrews 6-0, 6-1
Jonathan Antczak def.
Saevion David-Longe 7-6
(7-5), 6-4
Rawle Sue Ho w/o
Adeleke Cummings
Ezra Sue-Ho def. Dax
Hutson 6-0, 6-0
Men’s 35 Singles:
Stephen David-Longe def.
Victor DaSilva 7-5 (Ret)
Andre Lopes def. Harry
Panday 6-2, 6-1
Men’s 45 Singles:
Rudy Grant w/o Feroze
Khan
Harry Panday def. Albert
Madramootoo 6-3, 6-2
Men’s Open Doubles:
Gilbert Barckoy/Lealon
Leacock def. Dax
Hutson/Schelte VanDyke
6-2, 6-2
Oswin Coggins/Saevion
Longe def. Jonathan
Antczak/Nicholas
Glasgow 5-7, 7-6(9-7),6-3
Meanwhile, action continues in the tournament starting at 5:00 pm today at the same venue.
Some of the matches include number one seed Shelly Daly versus Alice Ali in the ladies open singles’, followed by Rudy Grant versus number two seed Anthony Downes, Lealon Leacock versus Rawle Sue-Ho, Ezra Sue-Ho versus Jonathan Antczak and Jeremy Miller versus Geraldo Alphonso in the men’s singles. Joseph Haynes/Steve Surujbally vs. Carlos Adams/Bobby Khan will also play in the men’s over-45 category.
