Senior Multimedia Reporter
T&T’s Josiah Hills will go in search of the singles title in the Confederation of Tennis of Central America and the Caribbean (COTECC)/Junior/Infantile Tennis International Championships (JITIC) Under-14 Tournament in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, today.
This, after the second-seeded Tobagonian Hills came from a set down to beat fourth-seeded Honduran Samuel Romero Flores Nieto 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to seal his spot in the final, where he faces top-ranked Mexican Patricio Alvarez, who won his semifinal 6-1, 6-1 against Costa Rican Samuel Romero Leon.
In today’s final, Hills will be seeking to avenge a loss to Alvarez when both players met in the final in Costa Rica in January, 2-6, 1-6 on clay courts.
On Tuesday, Hills dumped Mexico’s Luis Carlos Hernandez 6-2, 6-0 in their quarterfinal at the El Salvador Tennis Federation Hard Courts.
A day earlier, Hills first completed a perfect 5-0 round-robin win-loss record in Group Two with a straightforward 6-0, 6-0 win over Honduran Paulo Alvarez before he dispatched Costa Rican Fabian Pozuelo 6-0, 6-1 in their main draw round of 16.
However, in the main draw boys’ doubles semifinal yesterday, Hills and Barbadian Zane Kirton were stopped by Alvaro Banales and Carlos Carranza of Mexico, 6-4, 1-6, 6-10.
This was after the Caribbean duo won their quarter-final over Costa Ricans Alejandro Gonzalez and Julian Morales 6-1 and 7-6(4).
The other semifinal featured Mexicans Antonio Solabac and Patricio Chavez against countryman Luis Hernandez and Honduran Sebastian Rueda.
Another Barbadian, Cruz Thornton, also reached the semifinals of the doubles when he paired with Honduran Paulo Alvarez to defeat Elizer Santos and Sebastian Hernandez, the third-seeded duo, 5-4, 2-4, 10-7.
In the semifinals, Alvarez and Thornton came up against Hondurans, top-ranked Gabriel Flores and Gerardo Zuniga.
In the Girls’ Second Draw Consolation last-16 singles, Suri Ramcharan and Samaiyah Mohammed won by default against host players Sofia Gutierrez and Valeria Ortiz, respectively, while Teijha Wellington was handed a bye to the quarterfinals.
Ramcharan then beat Valentina Noe of Honduras 6-2, 6-2 in their quarterfinal to set up a semifinal with Yareisie Baez, who won their meeting 7-6, 6-4.
However, Mohammed was beaten by Cristina Cruz of Guatemala 6-2, 6-1, and Wellington suffered a 6-2, 6-1 loss to El Salvadorean Alessa Ruiz in their respective quarterfinals.
In the Girls’ Doubles Grade Three, Mohammed and St Kitts/Nevis’s Briella Lake were ousted by Hondurans Valentina Noe and Helena Valerio Kattan 0-4, 4-2, and 9-11 in the opening round-of-16 match.
