The 2021 National Ranking Tour 1 came to a thrilling conclusion Friday, as Samuel Antwi out-dueled Japheth Bagerbaseh to claim his second National Ranking Tour title.
Antwi, who is affiliated to Atomic Tennis club and Koforidua tennis club won 6-3,3-6,4-1(R) in 3 hours and 30 minutes to add his ranking title he won in 2018 Tour 5. Japheth made a strong start but struggled physically as the game entered the final set.
Though Japheth came into the match with a 3-2 head-to-head advantage, Antwi delivered the clutch performance on Friday under the scorchy sun at the National Tennis Center, Accra.
Antwi currently doing his National Services at the Koforidua Ghana Highways Authority took a comfortable 3-1 lead with some beautiful groundstrokes as he took control of the first set 6-3. Japheth found his rhythm to erase the early deficit and went on to win the second set 6-3.
In the final set, there were early signs of some physical discomfort when Japheth patted over two smashes at 3-0 down in the third set but again, he broke back. At 4-1 Japheth called for two medical timeouts on his Knees, but the stoppages did little to stop Antwi from capturing his second Ranking title.
After the match, Japheth said: “Congratulations, Antwi. This has been absolutely deserved today. You were the more courageous player in the decisive moment, and he deserves his title.”
“This is all Hard work, said Antwi, Thanks to my Coach Victor Akwetey Anane and Andrews Adu Appiah (Akaak) for their help.”
The weeklong Tour was put together Tennis Professional of Ghana and Ghana Tennis Federation with support by Tennis Foundation Ghana, Boafo & Anan Foundation and Mr. Charles Addo-Quaye CEO of Lone Star Gas. Story: Gabriel Amoakoh.
Source: Gabriel Amoakoh, Contributor