FORMER Jamaica Davis Cup player Douglas Burke said he was extremely pleased to see the large turnout of the youngsters at the inaugural staging of the Burke Doubles Series Tennis Tournament held at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre on Picadilly Road two Sundays ago.

Burke, who presented trophies to the winners and runners-up, said he saw several promising players from their respective age groups who should be our future stars.

“I am very pleased to know that Tennis Jamaica (TJ) has been working hard for the development and improvement of the youngsters, and appreciated that the series was named after me,” Burke said.

“Plans are in the making to send two tennis doubles experts from my ACE Tennis Academy along with Phillpotts Academy for a one-week camp to train local players [in] the art of playing doubles,” he added.

Burke is the chairman of ACE Tennis Academy, regarded as one of the largest and most successful academies in Canada.

Arthur Phillpotts, chairman of the Burke Doubles Invitational Series, said it was a good tournament with approximately 140 players participating in different age groups.

The boys’ 16 and under doubles was won by the pair of Desvaun Drummond and Zane Murray who defeated Matthew Forrester and Sean Tae Scott 6-3, 6-3.

The girls’ open doubles was won by the pair of Kailey Chin and Giselle Sang, who defeated the pair of Mikki Charles and Savannah Hussey 6-2, 6-2, while the pair of Anais Fang and Mia Wong beat the pair of Rebecca Hussey and Aanchal Khemlani 6-2, 6-2 in the consolation open doubles.

The second in the series is scheduled to be held on June 18 and 19 at the Eric Bell Centre.

—Gerald Reid