Malcolm sends defending champ packing

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

A new champion will be crowned at today's final day of the 2011 Iberostar Tennis Classic in Montego Bay as the defending champion and pre-tournament favourite, Damion Johnson, was among the casualties on yesterday's penultimate day, beaten in a classic quarter-final matchup by Nicholas Malcolm.

"I came here today fully prepared to give it my best shot and, thankfully, I got the result I wanted," said Malcolm. "I will be taking the same attitude into the final and hopefully I will get the same result."

In, arguably, the most exciting match of the tournament, the determined Malcolm, who got into the quarter-final by knocking off the highly rated American, Austin Davidow on Friday, won the first game 6-4. Johnson took the second game 6-2, but Malcolm rebounded to win the deciding game 10-8 in a tie-break after a 6-6 deadlock.

Buoyed by his success against Johnson, Malcolm went on to seal a place in today's final by beating Yusef Migoka 6-2, 6-4 in their semi-final clash, which was somewhat anticlimactic because of Malcolm's dominance.

Johnson's opponent in the final will be last year's beaten finalist, Elvis Henry, who defeated Micoy Henry 6-3, 6-2 in their semi-final matchup. Prior to his semi-final success, Henry faced a fairly stiff challenge in his quarter-final clash against Steve Coleman, scoring a 6-4, 6-4 win.

On the women side of the draw, the two top seeds, Pauline Hylton and Ffion Fletcher, both advanced to the final after registering good semi-final victories against Shian Kameka and Lisa Chin, respectively.

Hylton, who has been in sparkling form from the opening round, defeated Kameka 6-0, 6-3, while Fletcher scored a surprise 6-4, 6-1 win against Chin.

The tournament, which is being played in four categories - Men's Open, Men's Class Two and Class Three and Ladies' Amateur Open - will see the Men's Open champion pocketing $100,000. The beaten finalist will take home $50,000, the semi-finalists $25,000 and the quarter-finalists $12,000.

The tournament is sponsored to the tune of $250,000 by Marksman Security and Advantage General Insurance Company Limited.