Tennis: Vijay League 2008-Finals on December 19 and 20 |04 December 2008

Like Green Speed, reigning ladies’ winners Strikers are one match away from retaining their title when they meet Dream Team in the final on Friday December 19.

Winners on a 2-1 score against Deeply in last year’s final, Strikers eliminated Golden Girls in the semifinals this time.

Strikers’ Gloria Lauro gave her team the lead with a 2-0 (6-1, 6-4) win over Ginette York, but Golden Girls’ new German recruit Brigitte Kluger, ladies’ singles winner of the Cable & Wireless tournament, tied the match at one all with a 2-0 (6-0, 6-0) beating of Nathanielle Morel.

A doubles match was needed to decide the winners. Chloé Romain and Stephanie Ah-Shung teamed up to beat the Golden Girls’ pair of Julie Fayon and Ginette York 2-0 (6-1, 6-1).

Strikers finished first in the league to meet fourth-place Golden Girls in the semis.
In the other ladies’ semifinal, 2005 and 2006 champions Dream Team met Friends. Third finishers in the league, Dream Team edged runners-up Friends 2-1.

Clyvie Delpeche gave Dream Team the best of starts with a 2-0 (6-1, 6-0) victory over Peggy Chang-Tave, but Linda Samson was too good for Thara Hoareau whom she beat 2-0 (6-1, 6-0).

In the decisive doubles match, Delpeche paired with Shariffa Joubert to win 2-0 (6-4, 6-3) over the duo of Chang-Tave and Samson.

Men’s champions Green Speed looked in trouble against Aces in the semifinal as they needed an extra singles match to book their place in the final.

Anthony Brioche beat Maxwell Fock-Tave 2-0 (6-4, 6-0) and Ronny Ah-Shung collected a surprise 2-0 (6-1, 6-4) victory against André Derjacques to give Aces a 2-0 lead.

Vivian Vankiersblick trimmed the score to 1-2 for Green Speed, who finished first in the league, by beating young Nigel Hoareau 2-0 (6-0, 6-1) in the third singles match.

When fourth-place finishers Aces thought they could put one over Green Speed as they led in the doubles, they finally faltered. Anthony Brioche and Carlo Lauro easily won the first set 6-1 and led 3-1 in the second, but they just could not sustain the momentum. They dropped the second set 4-6 and eventually the third 5-7 against Vankiersblick and Marlon Orr.

As the two teams were tied at 2-2, they had to field a player who had not taken part in any matches for a decisive singles encounter. Green Speed’s Selwyn Lespoir beat Aces’ Antonio Sequenzia 2-0 (6-3, 6-3) to give his team their ticket to the final.

The other semifinal will be played on December 17 as Spitfire’s Steven Rideau-Mein and Club 2000’s Sylvester Delpeche are on an international mission.

They are on a three-week trip to Africa, where Delpeche is competing on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) East African 18 and Under Junior circuit.

G. G.