Exciting finale to Access/Proven tennis

A nail-biting finish between Wolmer's Boys' and Hillel High in the Under-19 boys competition was the feature of the four-day Access/Proven All-Island High School Tennis Tournament, which ended on Sunday at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre at Piccadilly Road in Kingston.

The four days of competition saw 34 teams from 17 high schools vying for honours in two age categories, boys and girls' Under-19 and boys and girls' Under-15.

Hillel, defending champions in the boys' Under-19, seemed set to retain their title with a 3-2 lead and their two highly fancied doubles teams left to play. The Wolmer's pair of Kyle Martin and Gregory Spencer, however, scored a very close victory over John Azar Jr and Daniel Hill to make it 3-3.

In the next match, Reuben Pinchas and Aman Chatani seemed to have it all sewn up when they moved to a 5-2 lead and served for the match, but Damani Cain, one of Jamaica's most promising juniors, led a rearguard action with his partner, Mark Hardy, to win 7-5 in the most thrilling match of the four days. They were hoisted on the shoulders of their happy and wildly cheering schoolmates at the end of the match.

Montego Bay High School for girls retained their Under-19 title by beating Immaculate Conception 4-2.

Immaculate rebounded to win the girls' Under-15 title by defeating St Andrew High, while Campion College won the boys' Under-15 by defeating Hillel.

Shaeda Nickle of Montego Bay High was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Under-19 girls' class, while Damani Cain from Wolmer's was the Under-19 boys' MVP. Campion's Joseph Richards was the boys' Under-15 MVP, while Immaculate's Kailey Chin was the girls' Under-15 MVP.

Immaculate garnered other awards through Alex Marzouca, the Most Disciplined Player, plus the Fair Play Trophy.