YOUNG ROAD TENNIS PLAYERS PRAISED BY BLUNT

by David Harris

President of the Barbados Road Tennis Association (BRTA) Frederick Blunt is elated over the promise shown by young road tennis players during 2025. For several years most of the leading road tennis player in the island were middle-aged men and women in their mid 40s or early 50s. 

Male players such as Antonio ‘Lil Man’ Daniel, Julian ‘Michael Jackson’ White (Barbados’ most decorated player), Marson Johnson, Lloyd Deane, and Winslow Birkettand Adrian ‘Dan ‘Skeete are still vying for road tennis titles even though they are no longer in the fountain of their youth. 

Mark “Venom” Griffith began his rise to prominence as a road player around 2010; unlike most of the other players, Griffith was in his early 20s and started winning tournaments throughout the island against his older opponents.   

There were several fierce battles between Griffith and White, or Griffith and Daniel at various tournaments throughout the island. In most of these encounters Griffith was triumphant. 

Griffith brought a new dynamic, to the sport with his rigorous training routine and the professional manner he brought to road tennis; and became the number player in the island, but they were a school of thought that not enough young men were playing the sport. 

Around 2017, several young men have started participating road tennis competitions in the island, among them Emar Edwards, Dario Hinds, Davien “Force Ripe” Taylorand Darius Gaskin. 

While these players brought youth vigor and enthusiasm to the sport, the veterans were still featuring in the finals of the major tournaments. Until 17-year-old Shakeem Nurse played Griffith in the final of the lucrative Barbados Road Tennis Open (BRTO) at the Wildey Gymnasium in 2022. 

Griffith defeated Nurse in straight sets, 21-18, 21-18,21-19, but the die was cast. The following year Griffith and Nurse faced off in the final of the BRTO at the same venture, and once more Griffith defeated younger players. 

In 2024, another member of the young brigade Dario Hinds challenged Griffith in the BRTO final and was defeated by the veteran. 

Last year, on September 25 th, at the Wildey Gymnasium, the 20-year-old Nurse turned the defeated tables on Griffith, and defeated him 22-20, 21-15, 21-15 to win the final of the BRTO and the first prize of $20,000. 

The night highlighted road tennis’ youthful surge as 17-year-old Jael Greaves defeated Davien Talyor to secure third place. 

The stellar performances of Nurse, Greaves, and Taylor in the BRTO are among the reasons that Blunt is pleased over the promise shown by the young players in 2025. 

 “Last year went reasonably well for the young players, Shakeem won the BRTO, Greaves came third, and some of the other youngsters had good performances at various stages of the tournament. We are looking to add another tournament for the senior players, because it is not good enough to have one major tournament”, Blunt told journalists. 

  He disclosed that the Harris Panits Junior Road Tennis Tournament January 16, and the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust Junior Tournament will serve off in April. 

Blunt is also pleased about the progress of young female road tennis, even though Sheldene Walrond, and Kim Holder have won all of the major tournaments for over a decade.  

Last year Rachel Smith defeated Holder, who was the defending champion in the semi-finals of the BRTO but lost to Walrond in the final, while Maudlyn Blunt, a relatively newcomer to the sport, placed third. 

An interesting aspect of last year’s edition of the BRTO was the ladies’ quarterfinals, Kim Holder and her daughter Kyana and Maudlyn Blunt and her daughter Kezia were quarterfinalists; while another young player Azarie Clark almost made it into the quarterfinals. 

“The performances of Kyana, Kezia, and Azarie made in the BRTO last year will make the tournament more competitive among the ladies”, Blunt said.