The doubles pair of teenager Jordane Dookie and veteran Anneliese Rose defeated Jamaica’s Kina Graham and Katherine Gibbs in straight set to secure a 2-1 win in their opening match in Group B when the Americas Group Three Billie Jean King Cup served off at the Federacion Salvadorena de Tenis in San Salvador, El Salvador, Monday (June 15).
The Dunstan De Noon coached T&T women were given a stellar start by George Washington University student/athlete Solange Skeene, 22, the daughter of former national footballer Dexter Skeene, when she easily swept aside Gibbs 6-1, 6-0.
However, Graham avoided defeat for Jamaica when she brushed aside 19-year-old Dookie of Drake University 6-0, 6-1 to set up the third and deciding doubles encounter where 47-year-old Rose and Dookie combined to beat Graham and Gibbs 6-2, 6-2 to secure the 2-1 win for T&T.
Also on winners row in Group B was Costa Rica by a similar 2-1 margin over Panama while Bermuda was on a bye and in Group A, Barbados blanked Antigua & Barbuda 3-0 and El Salvador also trounced Cuba 3-0
Today, in Group B, T&T faces Costa Rica and Bermuda battles Panama while in Group A, Barbados and El Salvador clash in a meeting of first day winners, with Suriname and Antigua & Barbuda facing off in the other encounter.
At the end of their respective round-robin series on Friday, the top two teams in each group will qualify to the cross-over semifinals, with the winners earning the two promotional spots.
