 Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 26 Mar 2006 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 26 Mar 2006 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 26 Mar 2006 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 27 Mar 2006 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 27 Mar 2006 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 27 Mar 2006 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 27 Mar 2006 |
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| 26 Mar 2006 - ITF - Isabelle Gemmel & Cecilia Ancalmo | |
| North/Central America & Caribbean Pre-qualifying 2006 - Panama |
With Puerto Rico in the boys event and Bahamas in the girls’, this years North/Central America & Caribbean pre-qualifying event of the World Junior Tennis Competition turned out in favour of the Caribbean region.
Puerto Rico’s boys and the girls from Bahamas advance to the North/Central American final qualifying event of the ITF Team Championships for boys and girls of 14 & under, which is going to be held in Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico from 4 to 7 May 2006. They will compete against the teams of Canada, Mexico and USA for the two available spots at the World Junior Tennis Finals to be held in August in Prostejov in the Czech Republic.
Weather was not so kind to the organisers in Panama with many rain interruptions especially during the last days, but finally all matches could be played in the six days of competition among the 11 boys teams and the 9 girls teams from a total of 11 participating countries.
Fourth seed Puerto Rico dominated their strong preliminary round robin group and went on in the main draw by defeating Bahamas in the quarterfinal, Trinidad & Tobago in the semifinals to set up a final against top seed Guatemala.
Wilfrido Gonzales (GUA) defeated Hector Irizarry (PUR) in a three set battle to get Guatemala into the lead. Thanks to their strong number one player Gabriel Flores (PUR), who did not lose a singles match in all six days of competition, Puerto Rico levelled the tie as Flores won in straight sets over Ian Urigüen (GUA).
The doubles had to decide the winner and Puerto Rico’s team had the stronger nerves to clinch the victory and the qualifying spot winning 62 in the third set.
In the girls’ competition, unseeded Bahamas were the surprise team of the week, as they cruised through the group stage, easily defeating third seed El Salvador. The team around number one player Kerrie Cartwright and Kalotina Klonaris repeated the victory over El Salvador in the semifinals to set up a final against the top seeded girls from Honduras.
But the Honduran girls Zulema Zelaya and Leyla Taracena could not live up to the expectations and lost both their singles matches in straight sets to the strong Bahamian girls.
Full results and draws can be found in the PDF documents attached to this article.
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THE PREQUALIFYING EVENT OF THE WORLD JUNIOR TENNIS COMPETITION 2006 FOR THE COTECC REGION
by Cecilia Ancalmo
On Monday march 20 we began this event, hosted by the Panama Tennis Federation at their National Tennis Center “Curundu”. We had the participation of the teams from ARUBA (boys), BAHAMAS (boys and girls), COSTA RICA (boys and girls), DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (boys and girls), EL SALVADOR (boys and girls), GUATEMALA (boys and girls), HONDURAS (boys & girls), NICARAGUA (boys), PANAMA (boys and girls), PUERTO RICO (boys and girls) and TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (boys and girls). Nicaragua participated for the first time at this event, and we are very happy because it is a sign of the development of their tennis.
Participation was great and all the players without any doubts gave their 100%. We had ties that lasted from 9:30 am until 4:30 pm. It was very motivating to watch such strong spirits on the courts.
The girl’s final was a surprise because Bahamas won both singles points overwhelmingly, with Kalotina Klonaris beating Leyla Taracena from Honduras by 6-1 6-1; and Kerrie Cartwright beating Zulema Zelaya by 6-2 6-1. Kalotina won all her matches at the event in two sets, and the most games anyone took from her were 2 in one set. And Kerrie only lost one set during the week, against Andrea Gutierrez from El Salvador.
This tie was left without the doubles match because the rain affected that day of competition and matches were delayed.
We are proud at COTECC to have such a strong girl’s team that will get the opportunity to play on the next phase against Canada, Mexico and United States. We feel they will be strong representatives of COTECC.
The boy’s final was played between Puerto Rico and Guatemala. This tie was a very different story compared to the girl’s final, because it was decided on the third set of the doubles match. On the first match Wilfredo Gonzalez from Guatemala defeated Hector Irizarry from Puerto Rico by 6-2, 5-7 and 6-3. It was a very close match until the end, with both players being strongly supported by their team mates and fans. On the second singles, Gabriel Flores from Puerto Rico defeated Ian Uriguen from Guatemala by 6-0, 6-2. Uriguen fought hard, but Gabriel Flores proved to be the strongest boy player at the event. At this point, the tie was going to be decided on the doubles match. The same four players went on court. Puerto Rico won a strong first set by 6-1. On the second set Guatemala changed the strategy and beat by 6-1 Puerto Rico. On the third set, Gabriel came very strong with his serve and volleys and the match and tie were decided by 6-2 on the final set. Carlos (Mickey) Nieves, Puerto Rico’s Captain, was overwhelmed by his team’s victory and expressed “I had to wait 9 years to have a team that will qualify to the next phase”.
This was a great final to watch, full with emotions and surprises. All four players gave their best efforts until the end of the tie and that made it a very exciting tie to watch. We are very happy with this victory from Puerto Rico and are certain that they will fight for a spot at the World finals.
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