Coballt juniors gain hard-won experience at Barbados Bowl II
By Admin. Updated 10:46 a.m., Sunday, November 15, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Two young Vincentian tennis players are back home from Barbados with valuable lessons, after a week of tough matches against players from across the region and beyond at the Barbados Bowl II.
Ethan Kent and Khaled Hope of the Coballt Racquet Sports Academy played in the tournament, a World Tennis Tour Junior J30 event for under-18 players. It ran from October 31 to November 5 at the Raymond Forde National Tennis Centre in Wildey, St Michael. Academy head coach Taj Ballantyne travelled with them.
This was the academy’s second trip to the Wildey venue this year. Its players also took part in the first Barbados Bowl in April. In a press release, the academy said the competition was as tough as expected, but that facing opponents of this level is exactly what its programme aims for.
Kent’s best singles result was a round-robin loss to Great Britain’s Misha Davidenko, who won 6-4, 6-2. He also lost 6-0, 6-3 to Zach King of Barbados, and by the same score to Eric Gurin of Canada. In doubles, Kent partnered Canada’s Nicholas Cibu. The pair lost 6-2, 6-2 in the Round of 16 to the brothers Eric and Mark Gurin.
The scores don’t tell the whole story. Kent is still in his last year of under-14 eligibility, yet Barbados Bowl II was already his fourth international under-18 tournament of the season and of his career. In August he won his first singles match, at the J30 Kingstown tournament here in St Vincent and the Grenadines. He is now ranked 4296th in the world junior rankings.
Hope, the academy’s newest member, had just as hard a time. His best singles result was a 6-2, 6-0 round-robin defeat to Barbados’ Brandon Warren. In doubles he partnered fellow Vincentian Akquin Johnson, and they lost 6-0, 6-4 in the Round of 16 to Garrick Pilgrim of Barbados and Brandon Brisbane of St Kitts and Nevis.
The trip was still a milestone for the young player. Barbados Bowl II was Hope’s third international tournament this year, and the first he has played outside St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Wildey centre hosts two international junior tournaments every year, and Barbados Bowl II is the second of them.
The academy thanked the Reggae Cup Foundation, the National Lotteries Authority, the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines, GECCU and its other supporters for making the trip possible. As it prepares for the 2027 international season, it said it will keep working to bring more players up from grassroots level to competitive tennis.
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