King Mark “Venom” Griffith will not be abdicating his throne and 17-year-old heir apparent Shakeem Nurse will have to wait longer to assume rulership of the road tennis kingdom.
Thousands of Barbadians flocked to the Wildey Gymnasium and fans world-wide tuned in to live television and social media on Saturday night to see the exciting attacker Nurse attempt to wrestle the monarchy of the indigenous sport from Griffith in the final of the Barbados Road Tennis Open.
At the end of a consuming power struggle, the indomitable defence, superior mental strength, tactics and counter-play saw Griffith repelling Nurse 21-10, 21-12, 18-21, 21-9 to earn a whopping $20 000.
Nurse who also hails from the “Sauna” camp had to settle for $15 000 while ending his failed assault on Griffith’s monarchy.
The resilient Griffith kept cool and calm and was never fazed by his teenage opponent’s dazzling strokeplay. (KB)