Antwi with the silverware
The 2021 National Ranking Tour 1 has come to a thrilling conclusion, as Samuel Antwi out-played 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 three hours and 30 minutes to add to his ranking title which 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 at the National Tennis Centre, Accra.
Antwi, currently doing his National Services at the Koforidua Ghana Highways Authority, took a comfortable 3-1 lead with some beautiful ground strokes 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 a well deserved win. You were the more courageous player in the decisive moment,” adding that he deserved his title.
“This is all hard work. Thanks to my coach, Victor Akwetey Anane, and Andrews Adu Appiah (Akaak) for their help,” Antwi said.
The weeklong tour was put together by Tennis Professional of Ghana and Ghana Tennis Federation with support from Tennis Foundation Ghana, Boafo & Anan Foundation and Charles Addo-Quaye, CEO of Lone Star Gas.