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BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Tyler takes tennis gold

Tyler Smith celebrates her singles victory with her mother Elison.

Tyler Smith ended one of her most exciting weeks of tennis by winning two more gold medals at the WER Joell Tennis Stadium to make it three golds in the NatWest Island Games.And proud mom Elison couldn’t control her emotions after the winning point was scored, running around the court waving a Bermuda flag. Tyler, too, got caught up in the excitement of winning a another gold on home court.The number one singles seed started the final day of the Games by winning the gold with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Laura Feely of Isle of Man.Two hours later she was waving the Bermuda flag and posing for pictures again when she and doubles partner Erika Bove defeated number four seeds Karen Faragher and Katie Tinkler of the Isle of Man 6-2, 6-2.Smith had a nervous first set in the singles when she lost a 3-1 lead as she struggled to find any rhythm. However, she eventually settled down and took the first set 7-5 after Feely kept it close before Smith finally took control.Smith then held serve to go up 5-4 before Feely came back again at 5-all as the see-saw battle continued.However, Smith never let Feely into the game again and won the next two games to take a one set advantage.The second set was more lopsided as Smith quickly went into a 3-0 lead and then moved towards victory at 5-1 before serving for the match. She won the second set comfortably as Feely, the number two seed, failed to build on the first set momentum.“I couldn’t get a rhythm in the first set, I was a bit nervous and she was playing pretty good,” said a relieved Smith afterwards.“I was getting a bit frustrated but I needed to let that go and focus on the next point. The second set I was already pumped up from winning the first and I guess she was a bit down, but that was to my advantage. I knew if she had won the first set it would have been tough to come back. I’m really excited, and yes my mom ran onto the court, but the crowd has been really great.”Mom Elison has been there all week cheering on all the Bermuda players and was thrilled to see her daughter pick up the gold in the singles in which she was unbeaten throughout the week.“She said it in the beginning that she would bring home the gold and that’s what she did,” said her mother whose victory lap brought more cheers from the crowd. “Unexpectingly yes, I just had to let it out,” she explained of her antics.“The Bermuda team has done extremely well, I love the way they coaxed each other along. That’s what helped her to get this far. The coaching and the team have done an awesome job. I’m very proud.”Earlier in the week Bove and Smith were instrumental in leading the women’s team to a gold medal finish and the medal haul continued with David Thomas and Neal Towlson losing to Scott Clayton and James Connelly in the men’s doubles final and having to settle for the silver medal.Another member of the Bermuda team, Caitlin Gordon, won the women’s plate final, beating Joanna Dyer of Guernsey 2-6, 6-1 and 10-7 in the super tie-break.In the men’s singles final, Billy Harris of the Isle of Man won the gold when he beat Dominic McLuskey of Guernsey 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted 60 minutes.“I’m really happy, Dom played well and made it tough for me but I managed to serve well and stay in it,” said 18-year-old Harris, the number seven seed.“He’s a good player, I managed to get a couple of breaks in the match and it swung it. I haven’t played him before but he came out well at the start and put me under pressure. I didn’t want to go to a third set tie-break when it could go either way.”It was the second gold for Harris, who partnered Laura Feely to win the mixed doubles final on Thursday evening against countrymen Marc Chinn and Karen Faragher.“Two gold medals, I’m pretty happy with that,” he said.