They are the best of the best!
Jamaicans Dany Wilson / Mark Lewis and the Barbados pair of Anthazia Mason / Sharon Bovell completed clean sweeps of the Men’s and Ladies competition of the Sizzlin Sand Caribbean SUNSPLASH events for 2007 when they won their respective divisions in the Barbados SUNSPLASH at Brandons beach November 4th, 2007.
Mason / Bovell faced the Trinidadian pair of Nancy Joseph / Elki Philips in the ladies final and gave hometown fans lots to cheer about in a hard fought 21-13, 14-21, 15-10 victory over their Trinidadian rivals. Credit must be given to Joseph / Philip who came storming back to capture the second set in commanding fashion after losing set one to the most dominant female team on the tour this year and setup a third and decisive set.
Carrying the momentum the developed in the second set into the deciding set Joseph / Philip pressured the Barbados pair of Mason / Bovell in the early part of the set before losing ground and trailing by three points 6-9 at one stage. It was apposition from which the could not recover as Mason / Bovell stamped their authority on the set and the match to claim the $ 2,000.00 USD first prize. For their efforts Joseph / Philip were rewarded with $ 1,500.00 USD while the third place prize of $ 1,000.00 USD went to the Barbados pair of Julia Lewis / Lauren Whitehall who defeated the combination of Tessa Payne (ANT) / Shanicia Dyer (SKN) in straight sets 21-17, 21-14. Payne / Dyer received $ 500 USD for their fourth place finish.
The Men’s final of the Sizzlin Sand Barbados SUNSPLASH was a repeat of the finals of the Antigua SUNSPLASH as the two most dominant teams for the year faced each other yet again in another exciting final. Elwyn Oxley / Gregory Gill of Barbados the defending champions of the Barbados SUNSPLASH and Jamaica’s Dany Wilson / Mark Lewis did not disappoint the hundreds of fans who came out to witness the match of the tournament.
The Barbadians Oxley / Gill drew first blood as they sent the huge crowd on hand into wild delight by taking a tense hard fought first set 21-17. Fans on hand were kept on the edge of their seats as the tall Jamaicans capitalized on a shoulder problem Gill was having along with impressive attacking rebounded to take the second set 21-18 to set up a thriller third set.
The third set was the thriller everyone expected as beach volleyball fans abandoned their seats to give both teams their full vocal support and urge them on in a very close encounter. In the end the injury to Gill proved to be decisive as the Jamaica strategy to exploit his weak attack paid dividends as they went on to claim the set 15-13 and the $ 2,000 USD first prize. Third place prize of $ 1,000 USD went to the Guadeloupe pair of Robin Darchicourt / Philippe Pignol and the Barbados pair of Andrew Culpepper / Winston Gittens collected $ 500 USD for fourth place.
