All four titles on offer in the team events at the Caribbean Junior and Cadet Championships went to the host nation in the Puerto Rican town of San Germán; on Sunday 24th April 2011, that feat was repeated in the singles events. Puerto Rico secured all four titles on offer. Daniel Gonzalez captured the Junior Boys’ Singles title, the Junior Girls’ crown was won by Carelyn Cordero; whilst the Cadet Boys’ Singles saw Brian Afanador reign supreme. Meanwhile, in the Cadet Girls’ Singles event it was Melanie Diaz who concluded the day, standing proudly on the to...

Is 17 year old Ocean Belrose from Tahiti currently the best junior player in Oceania?  It is an intriguing question and a difficult question to give a definitive answer. However, there are plenty of signs that indicate that this could well be the case. The athletic right hander with superb ball control is very promising and he showed that promise from an early age. In 2008 he was a part of the Oceania Cadets Team at the 2008 Global Cadet Challenge and on no less than five different occasions he has attended training camps in China, as part of either the Oceania Talent Te...

Staged in San Germán in the south west of Puerto Rico, near the town of Mayagüez, proceedings in the Caribbean Junior and Cadet Championships commenced on Tuesday 19th April and when play concluded on the fifth day of action, Saturday 23rd April 2011, it was the host nation that had collected the lion’s share of the medals. They had set the standards for others to follow; they captured all four team titles on offer and in the doubles events only two titles slipped their grasp. Furthermore, they could add to their haul of gold; the singles events are staged on Sunday 24th Apr...

Japan’s 18 year old Misaki Morizono and 14 year old Miyu Maeda were the players to attract the attention as the first day of action, Tuesday 15th February 2011, came to a conclusion in the opening phase of the Women’s Singles event at the United Arab Emirates Open in Dubai.  Both accounted for higher world ranked opposition and underlined the current depth of talent in Japan. Misaki Morizono excelled to beat Romania’s Daniela Dodean in five games (14-12, 6-11, 14-12, 11-9, 11-4) before Miyu Maeda overcame Hungary’s Rita Kertai in four straight games (14-12, 11-...

The ITF has announced that the University of Pretoria in South Africa will host the 2011 World Team Cup for the first time on 25 April-1 May.   The University, which is one of three ITF regional training centres, has 22 hard courts and is also the main training base for able-bodied tennis players in South Africa. Due to the increased number of teams wishing to participate in the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis event, it is to undergo a change in format from 2012. The men’s World Group I and II and the women’s World Group competitions will be reduced from 1...

Breathtaking, devastating and for Timo Boll demoralising; the display afforded by China’s 20 year old Xu Xin in the final of the Men’s Singles event at the Qatar Open in Doha on Sunday 13th February 2011 was of a level rarely witnessed in the table tennis arena.  Xu Xin, focused from the very start and with a clear tactical plan not to give Timo Boll any opportunity to release his electrically fast forehand, secured victory in four straight games. It was a performance of the very highest levels with victory secured by the margin of 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8. No Time...

Represented by 16 year old Antoine Hachard and 17 year old Stéphane Quaiche, France `A’ captured the Junior Boys’ Team title at the Czech Junior and Cadet Open Championships in Hodonin on Saturday 5th February 2011; thus justifying their top seeded position in the event. Similarly, in the Cadet Boys’ Team event it was success for the no.1 seeds, with the Slovakian partnership of Patrik Vlacuska and Peter Turcek striking gold. However, the path to the top step of the medal podium was by no means comfortable; both teams were tested. Severe ExaminationThe succe...

MEN’S champion Roger Federer stuttered to a record-equalling 27th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open yesterday, as Francesca Schiavone won the longest women’s match at a major.  While Federer needed four sets against Tommy Robredo, Novak Djokovic stayed in dazzling form and women’s top seed Caroline Wozniacki also progressed, as Germany’s Andrea Petkovic stunned 2008 winner Maria Sharapova. However, all attention was on Hisense Arena, Melbourne Park’s second-biggest court, where Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova treated the c...

Pakistan has won global titles in hockey, squash and cricket. But tennis player Aisamul Haq’s feat of reaching the finals of both the men’s and mixed doubles at the US Open, holds a special place in Pakistan’s sporting achievements. Whatever he has managed to do is only through his effort and support of the family. The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) or the national sports bodies can’t claim any credit to Aisam’s recent feat.I am an Olympic gold medallist myself and come from a family which figured in all the three gold medals won by Pakistan at the Olympics. ...

It is often the organisers and sponsors who are at the losing end when the stars do not turn up.But this will not be the case when the Premier Super Series, billed as the ‘Grand Slam’ of badminton, takes flight next year.The Badminton World Federation (BWF) will make it mandatory for all the top 10 singles players and doubles pairs under the world rankings to play in all five Premier Super Series and a minimum of four Super Series tournaments from next year.The BWF, during their council meeting in May, announced that five countries – South Korea, England, Indonesia, Denmar...