Photo caption: 2015 Ernst & Young (EY)/ Russell Tennis Academy (RTA) Top 16 Invitational winners, Najah Dawson girls Champion(Left), Rayne Russell RTA Director, Cliff Dwyer boys Champion
16 year old Victory Academy student Cliff Dwyer surpassed his more celebrated rivals by winning the prestigious EY Boys singles event at the Russell Tennis Academy Top 16 Invitational at their Campion College location.
Cliff showed grit and determination beat the highly rated Kyle Martin of Wolmer’s in a 2 ½ hour battle of wills. After losing the first set 3-6, the North Coast based Dwyer recovered to win the second set 6-2 and level the match at a set apiece before storming home in the final set, also 6-2 to claim a memorable victory.
While American based 13 year old sensation Najah Dawson outclassed the entire field in the girls division and ended with a world class 40 minutes display of control, power and spin, against Shae-Ann Kameka of Montego Bay winning 6-0, 6-0.
Other surprising results over the course of the week-end were the win by 11 year old John Chin of Hillel Academy over top junior Myles Harrison of Campion College 7-5, 2-6, 10/3 and on full flight to reaching the finals of the girls singles Shae-Ann Kameka upset 2nd seeded Ilana Blackwood 6-4, 2-6, 10/8 and fourth seeded Selena Blythe 6-3, 6-4.
Managing partner at Ernst and Young Ms. Allison Peart at the closing ceremony expressed great satisfaction with the staging of the event and stated that EY will be back as the title sponsor in 2016 for the third consecutive year.
The organizers will be expanding the event by extending invitations to the best young players from Trinidad, Barbados, St. Lucia, Aruba and Curacao to upgrade the event to a Caribbean Regional Top 16 Tournament. This event will now have a regional reach and will be represented by players from the islands where EY Caribbean currently has offices.
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