Tennis Jamaica confirms female trials
Published:Tuesday | June 1, 2021 | 12:13 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Tennis Jamaica President John Azar confirmed that the three-day national trials tournament for female players, which will be used to select Jamaica’s team to the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Federation Cup), will take place starting tomorrow at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre.
The trials were thrown in doubt following the postponement of the Billie Jean King tournament, which was originally set for Bolivia, June 15-19.
As a result, the association deliberated on the matter over the weekend and took into account a number of factors, before deciding it was best to go ahead with the local trials.
However, with no date set for the rescheduled Billie Jean King tournament, Azar pointed out that this week’s qualifiers from the trials will become ineligible and will have to re-earn their spots if the date for the international tournament is reschedule to after November 30.
PREPARATION FOR TRIALS
“We were deliberating on whether to hold the trials or not, being that the event had been postponed; but we decided to have the trials because the girls are here and they are prepared for it, and having a team named early will give us the advantage of working on preparation instead of selection,” Azar told The Gleaner.
“We do not yet know the [new] date for the rescheduled event. These trials shall be used in the event that the rescheduled event starts on or before November 30, 2021. Were the event to start after that date, then Tennis Jamaica would restart the selection process,” he added.
Five players will contest the trials – Pauline Hylton, SheaAnn Kameka, Abigail Perue, Katherine Dibbs and Haley McNair.
However, two players, Junmoke James and Najah Dawson, were given byes and are exempted from the trials.
James, the nation’s top-ranked female, was joined as automatic selection by Dawson, who had initially declined her invitation because of school commitments.
“We remain hopeful that she will in fact make herself available for the new dates, when same have been confirmed,” he stated.
With the two top places already taken, the five ladies on trial will battle for the three reserve spots on the team.
Azar added that the trials is not open to the public and that all COVID-19 protocols will be observed, in accordance with the Disaster Risk Management Act.
“We do understand and appreciate the school of thought that trials are best held closer to an event, hence our stating that if the rescheduled event is later than November 30, then we would restart the selection process, in keeping with the stated selection criteria for team events such as this.
“I suspect the Tennis Jamaica Technical Committee will put measures in place to ensure and monitor the fitness and health of those chosen in trials to ensure they are performing at their best, come the rescheduled tournament dates,” he commented.