Home|Sports|Bain wins men’s doubles title at regionalsSports
The Nassau GuardianSend an emailOctober 3, 2023 72 1 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian Jacobi Bain and his men’s doubles partner Nereo Suarez, of Argentina, defeated their teammates Julius Hell, of Germany, and American VanDer Woody, 7-6(5) and 7-5, Sunday afternoon in the men’s doubles final of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Gulf Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional Championships at the Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) Tennis Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
The victory automatically qualifies Bain and Suarez for the ITA Cup, from October 12-16, at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia.
Bain and Suarez rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the tiebreak. It’s the second doubles title in 16 days for Bain and Suarez, who defeated Morgan State’s top-seeded Mikeal Carpenter and Niles Rachal, both of the United States, in the A-bracket final September 16 at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.
Last year, Bain and Suarez were the top seeded team in the regionals but lost in the final.
“We are happy that this time around they came out on top,” said a Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) spokesperson through a press release. “We wish him success at the ITA Cup next week.”
Bain, a sophomore, also recently made the first team at XULA. He finished with a 20-9 win/loss record in singles last season and was 24-6 in doubles. He was at number 14 in singles and, with Suarez, number two in doubles, in the final NAIA national rankings. Bain moved from playing number four in singles in 2022 to the number one spot for the school this year, and helped the XULA Gold Rush achieve more success, including nine team victories against ranked opponents.
Bain was second team All-Louisiana and freshman of the year for the Gold Rush last year.
The BLTA congratulates Bain on capturing the men’s doubles regional title with his partner and for the first team honors.