Shantal Blackwood from KBC Learning and Hillel’s Daniel Harris were on Sunday crowned girls and boys 18 and under champions, respectively, on the final day of the 2010 Burger King Interscholastic Singles Championship held at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre.

Under humid conditions, Blackwood had to dig deep to get the better of schoolmate Siquena Sinclair 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 in the epic finale.

After claiming the first set, Blackwood succumbed to Sinclair in the second set. Trailing 2-5 in the third and final set, Blackwood looked dead and dusted, however she clawed her way back winning five straight games to come away with the nail-biting victory in the tiebreaker.

“I am still in shock at my victory today, I thought I was out of it when I was down 5-2 in the final set, but I managed to take away Siquena’s attacking game and fight my way back and I am very happy for the victory,” said Blackwood.

The boys’ equivalent was also a ding dong affair with Hillel’s Daniel Harris coming away with the title getting by Sheldon McIntosh 6-0, 6-7, 6-2. The impressive Harris was winning his second title in a week after taking the Under-18 crown in the junior circuit event in Montego Bay.

According to Harris, the wind made play difficult on the day. “It was very hard to make shots in the windy conditions, but I made sure to play the first set aggressively and worked my strong forehand to my advantage.”

In the day’s earlier finals, Simon Levy of Hillel captured the boys 16 and under title following a 6-4, 6-4 win over Knockalva’s Horatio Ludford. The girls equivalent went to Michaelann Denton of Immaculate Conception, who had an easy 6-0, 6-0 win over Sherida Brown of Ocho Rios High.

The boys 14-and-under title saw number one seed Roger Lyn Jnr of St Peter and Paul outpowering number two seed Luke Therrien of Heinz Simonitch 6-4, 6-1, while number one seed Shae-Ann Kemeka of Chetwood Primary had to dig deep to stave off the challenge of number two seed Shaeda Nickle of Hosanna Prep 6-3, 6-4.

The 12-and-under crown in the boys section was also won by Roger Lyn Jnr, who was claiming his second title on the day when he defeated Neils Van Dam of Heinz Simonitch 6-1, 6-0. The female equivalent saw Shae-Ann Kemeka taking the double when she got by Shaeda Nickle for a second time, winning 6-2, 4-6, 7-3.

Blaize Bicknell of Hillel was too good on the day in the boys 10-and-under category, beating teammate Nicholas Gore 4-0, 4-2, while Selena Blythe of St Peter and Paul ousted Iesha Sterling of Howard Cooke Primary 4-0, 3-5, 4-1 for the girls equivalent.

The top coach award went to Ryan Russell, while the most disciplined school was St Andrew High School.

Tournament referee Jordache Deuce was pleased with the level of competition displayed at the championship which saw a record number of entrance 208.

“I must say that it was an outstanding championship, I was so pleased to see 10-year-old Roger Lyn coming out and winning two titles… it goes to show that tennis is getting stronger and stronger in Jamaica.”

That sentiment was also shared by Burger King’s marketing manager Diana Blake Bennett, who praised the efforts of the participants and the organisers.

“Burger King is pleased to be associated with the Interscholastic Tennis Championship, which is in its 15th year and with the level of quality tennis that was on display today the synergy between Burger King and Tennis Jamaica can only grow from strength to strength.”

Title sponsor Burger King has once again committed to supporting this exciting event. The fast food giant has been involved in tennis for over 15 years, and has made it a point of duty to continue its involvement in a bid to foster youth development through the sport of tennis.