GUYANA’s junior tennis players finished third in the ‘Cup of the Guyanas’ tennis tournament, which was recently held in French Guiana.

The Guyanese finished on 81 points, behind champions French Guiana (125 points) and Martinique (121).  Suriname finished last on 69 points in the four-team battle.

According to one of two coaches who travelled with the team, Leyland Leacock, the Guyanese held their own.

“The team did great. We lost 10 matches on tie breaks and some other closes matches, but all the players did well….”

The squad of 11 players and two coaches, was joined by Soaya Ribal in French Guiana. The 12 players went on to earn 16 wins, with trump card Afruica Gentle leading the charge.

Gentle won all six of her matches in the U18 division. She and Kalyca Fraser, who won five of her six matches, helped Guyana dominate that age division at the competition.

Meanwhile, Saskia Persaud and Sekia Jones won two of their six games, while Vadeanand Resaul also claimed a win.

Gentle told Chronicle Sport that she enjoyed her last year at the event.

“For me it was an exciting few days of tennis with a lot of competitive matches.” The dominant teenage player stated that she was prepared for her opponents. “I’m very thankful, and I must give credit to my coach Rebecca Mitchell and the travelling coaches, Leyland Leacock and Andre Lopes, for helping me to prepare for the games and for being victorious.”

Along with the players mentioned above, Gerald Scotland, Gabriella Alphonso, Ricky Romascindo, Devine Jeremiah Kalekyezi, Viraj Sharma and Joshua Kalekyezi also competed. The side was coached by Leacock and Andre Lopes.