Guyana’s top junior players put on quite a show in the final round of the 2010 SMALTA Easter Junior Team Tournament at the Georgetown Club courts as the Different Strokes team held off a surprisingly tough challenge from Be Aggressive to claim the title.

The Herd team finished second, Gravity Challenged – third, Run for Cover – fourth, Be Aggressive – fifth and  Pitbulls finished sixth.

Jason Khalil led the Different Strokes team past Be Aggressive in the final round by defeating four-time Caribbean Champion Keisha Jeffrey (11-6, 11-6, 11-4) as the team finished with three games against the opposition’s two.

Their other two victories came when Jonathan Antczak and Taylor Fernandes got past Akeila Wiltshire and Riasoya Jodah while Victoria Arjoon and Stefan John lost to Steven Xavier and Ricky Rodrigues.

There was also a tight fight for second place with The Herd and Gravity Challenged (GC) going at it with the knowledge that a win could secure that spot and also put them in the position to challenge Different Strokes for first place if they faltered.

After the first four matches were completed between The Herd and GC, the teams were tied on two games each, then Jason Van Dyk (Herd) became the hero when he outlasted a determined Alysa Xavier 3-2.

South American Games bronze medalist Ashley Khalil led Run for Cover to a surprising win over Kayla Jeffrey’s Pit Bulls to stand firm at fourth place.

Matthew Phang won the sportsmanship award while Larissa Wiltshire was judged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.

At the presentation ceremony, tournament director Deje Dias thanked the sponsors SMALTA through their local distributors Ansa Mcal for their continuous support of the junior programme. He also thanked the coaches, players, parents and the Georgetown Club for making the tournament possible.