The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama native Tatyana Madu has turned in top performances in November to make her the Tribune Sports Player of the Month. The newest Tribune Sports section segment recognises the collective showings of athletes (male and female) across all sporting disciplines for each month.

Madu has once again proven herself to be a stellar junior performer in tennis during the month of November. She put on a show at the U14 Junkanoo Bowl where she claimed two titles at the Central American and Caribbean Tennis Confederation (COTECC) event.

The 14-year-old’s first championship at the junior tournament was earned in the girls’ singles action. Madu was ranked number one in the event and never dropped a set versus any of her opponents leading up to her finals victory.

In the quarterfinals, she matched up against fellow Bahamian Vonteneke Rolle who she dropped in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.

She then advanced to the semifinals against Curaçao’s Keziah Fluonia. The latter gave Madu stiff competition in the first set but it was not enough. The newly-crowned Player of the Month defeated Fluonia 7-6(3), 6-1 to move on to her final opponent of the singles event.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Makeda Bain was determined to at least give the top ranked Madu a challenge but her efforts did not move the needle for the Bahamian junior player.

Madu collected a relatively comfortable win in set one 6-0 and followed it up with a 6-3 victory in set two to claim one of her two titles at the event.

Ironically, Madu teamed up with her finals opponent Bain to add another championship trophy to her collection in the girls’ doubles. The duo matched up with fellow Bahamians Sarai Clarke and Marina Bostwick and bested them in straight sets. Madu and Bain knocked off the Bahamians 6-0, 6-1.

With another title within her reach, Madu and her partner did not disappoint. Fluonia and Bahamian Briana Houlgrave did everything they could to stop Bain and Madu but ultimately came up short in the finals. The winning tandem fell in set one 6-7(5) and recovered in set two 7-6(6).

In the final tiebreaker, Madu and Bain completed the job, winning 10-4 to earn the former her second trophy of the tournament.

Her performance during this stretch in November made her the second athlete to be named Tribune Sports Player of the Month.

OCTOBER RECAP

In October, Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones was awarded the honours for her dominance in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) playoffs and finals for the New York Liberty.

Stay tuned for December’s Tribune Sports Player of the Month.