Charles “McEnroe” Griffith just keeps on doing the unthinkable.
Down a set and staring defeat straight in the face against Kerry “TC” Francis last night, Griffith somehow managed to pull off an astounding comeback to advance to the semifinals of the Barbados Public Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited Monarchs of the Court.
Charles Griffith sizzled last night.
After watching a barrage of Francis’ shots rocket past him on the way to losing the opening set 14-21, and on the verge of elimination trailing 17-19 in the ensuing game, Griffith somehow found a way to hold on.
Two easy unforced errors by Francis allowed his opponent to lock the score at 19-19, before he sealed his own fate by unbelievably blasting an easy smash wide of the court with Griffith at his mercy.
He then gifted the set to his opponent in the easiest of fashions, by sending Griffith’s serve straight into the net, much to the delight of the crowd on hand at the Wildey Court.
The third and final set proved somewhat anticlimactic, with Griffith, once the face of road tennis in Barbados more than a decade ago, turning a close 5-5 score line into a 10-5 advantage.
And with Francis continuing to commit unnecessary errors as he tried to find a way through his opponent’s brick wall defense, things got worse.
His play allowed the lead to balloon to as much as eight (14-6), leading to shouts of “sow him,” from Griffith’s supporters.
While Francis did manage to avert getting sowed, he never got back into the game, with Griffith closing out the match at 21-11 to book a semifinal date with Julian “Michael Jackson” White.
Earlier, number one seed Mark “Venom” Griffith had easily advanced to the semis with a straight sets “double sow” of Marson Johnson 21-9, 21-9.
Mark Griffith is all precision with this forearm shot.
So dominant was Griffith, that with the score locked at 8-8 in the first set, he allowed Johnson to score just one more point on the way to victory.
The second set was even more impressive, with Griffith quickly rushing out to a 13-2 lead.
Five straight unforced errors however, gave Johnson some hope that he would escape the ignominy of being sowed in both matches.
But Griffith had other intentions, tightening his grip in the latter stages, to limit his opponent to just nine points once again.
He will face Darius “Barracus” Gaskin in the other men’s semifinal.
Defending ladies’ champion Kim Holder did just enough to qualify for the final four with a close 21-12, 21-19 win over Juliette Worrell.
Abigail Haynes on her way to defeating Cherene Ward.
In the night’s other contest, Abigail Haynes was all over Cherene Ward, dismissing her 21-14, 21-8.