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Adrian ‘Dan’ Skeete is all smiles after collecting his prize from Andrew Bynoe.

Adrian ‘Dan’ Skeete wins Veterans title in style

 

 
Almost every time Adrian ‘Dan’ Skeete stepped on the court he was dishing out ‘Sows’ and on Sunday in the final of the inaugural A1 Supermarkets Lance Bynoe Road Tennis veterans tournament, it was no different.
 
He carried off the top prize as well as yet another succulent pig, roasted in advance of his pending victory and handed over by the title sponsor Andrew Bynoe.
 
Playing against Jeffrey ‘Barah’ Best in the final at the Rubis court, Skeete like all good players came in with a game plan which left Best unable to keep pace.
 
Skeete has been in ripping form all tournament long, coupled with his game plan, the final opening game was one-sided. With Skeete playing a game which included some off speed shots as well as moving around his opponent and then cramping him for room, Best found himself spoiling the ball countless times on his side of the court.
 
Unable to adapt to the speed of the ball and the subtle movement, Best fell further and further behind as he could only watch Skeete rattle off a 12-1 run.
 
At the end of the first game, Best had committed a total of 12 unforced errors and Skeete had delivered to him a ‘sow’ 21-7.
 
Fighting to keep his title hopes alive Best seemingly found the answer and matched Skeete point for point and even lead briefly, though by a small margin.
 
Then, Skeete who had gone away from his game plan, went back to it and pulled away from 13-13 with a 4-0 run.
 
Though Best battled back, it was too little to late and Skeete went on to win the second game 21-17.
 
The doubles final was won by Terry ‘Puncher’ Dottin and Glen ‘Chicken’ Harris who defeated Andrew ‘Governor’ Holder and Rodney Lorde 21-11, 9-21, 21-19.
 
‘Governor’ Holder was third in the singles defeating Anthony ‘Funnel’ Moore after coming from behind in the first game to win 21-17, 21-18.
 
There were three exhibition matches that stood out and gave the crowd a full array of shots and fantastic performances.
 
The women took the court after the doubles final with Charene Ward and Margo Lorde showing those on hand that the game is indeed for everyone.
 
Ward jumped out to a 5-0 lead which seemingly stunned Lorde who was slow in starting, while Ward was in ripping form right off the bat. However, Lorde came back and was back on level terms in the middle of the game before Ward was able to close out the shot gun game 21-15.
 
Then came the top four players in the A class men, with the reigning World Champion Julian ‘Michael Jackson’ White taking on Curtis Jones. White gave the crowd a taste of why he is the World Champion. With some amazing shots from what looked like a never-ending arsenal, Jackson left Jones stuck on the spot, playing catch-up and just unable match him.
 
Nonetheless, Jones had just enough to escape the sow as White ended the game 21-10.
 
The final exhibition game saw the most flamboyant player in Barbados, Antoine ‘Lil Man’ Daniel and Barbados number one player Mark ‘Venom’ Griffith.
 
Up his tip toe and one of his feet off the back, Daniel drew thunderous cheers from the crowd as he jumped out to a 8-1 lead.
 
At 14-7 many thought that Daniel was on the brink of ‘sowing’ Griffith, but then Griffith buckled down and started to claw the game back levelling the scores to win 25-23. 

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