JAMAICA will field two strong boys’ and girls’ teams for the 2016 Blue Mountain Caribbean Junior Open Tennis Championships which gets under way today at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston.

It starts with the singles events for 18-and-under boys’ and girls’, 16-and-under boys’ and girls’, 14-and-under boys’ and girls’, and 12-and-under boys’ and girls’.

This year marks the fourth year of the Blue Mountain Caribbean Junior Tennis Championships, which replaced the Brandon/Phillips Caribbean Junior Championships, last played in 1992.

According to Tournament Director Llockett McGregor, the Caribbean Junior Tennis Championships has attracted 86 players, with 32 coming from Caribbean countries.

“Once again, the championships should be very exciting and Jamaica is expected to be strongly represented in the teams and individual events,” McGregor said.

He said Jamaica will be defending boys’ champions with Barbados finishing second, while the girls’ event will be contested for the first time.

Jamaica and Guyana are expected to be the only teams in the boys’ and girls’ championships, while the other countries, such as the Cayman Islands, St Lucia and Antigua, will only play in the individual singles events in the various age groups.

The team events for each country will consist of four boys for each boys team and four girls for each girls team.

Meanwhile, several Jamaican players who participated in the All-Jamaica Junior Tennis Championships, which ended last Saturday, will be playing, including Luke Quaynor and, Michaela Stephens, in the boys’ and girls’ champions.

Other Jamaicans in the boys’ 18-and-under section are Blaise Bicknel, Cliff Dwyer, Daniel Hill, Matthew Quaynor, Karan Chatani, Ruben Pinchas, Louis Quaynor, Myles Harrison, and Jason Lawson.

The girls’ 18-and-under will comprise Emma Dibbs, Haylay McNair, Olivia Simms, Kobi Walcott, Savannah Hussey and Lauren Rickman.