MORE action than has ever been experienced in qualifying here before is expected over the next two days at Eddie Taylor Public Courts, King George Park, St Clair.

The under-18 qualifying draws for the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Junior Tournament will be contested and the main draws will serve off at the same venue on Monday.

There are usually just a handful of players in girls' qualifying, but over 20 of them were expected at the "sign in" after press time last night.

Twenty-two players were automatically placed in the main draw, but the field was so impressive, that 14 of those hoping to gain one of the four qualifying places also have world junior rankings.

They include Trinidad and Tobago's Amanda Soo Ping Chow and Dominique Coutain, both listed at No.1,710 in the rankings. Juliet Campbell, Carissa Rudolfo, Danielle Devenish and Makalah Goodridge are the other females from the host country battling for spots in the main draw of 32.

The United States-based Ethan Ammon and Jelani Davidson, who swept the under-14 titles in all three legs of an ITF Caribbean Junior Circuit last summer, are surprisingly in the qualifying field, while T&T compatriots Keshan Moonasar, Ryan Thomas and Davidson's brother Jabari were automatically placed in the main draw.

Nkrumah Patrick, Clint Singh and Alexander Mukerji are the other local players in the list of over 30 who will be competing for the six qualifying places today and tomorrow.

A total of 48 players will begin action on Monday, but it will be a 64-draw as the 16 seeds will receive byes in the first round.

This list should include national under-18 champ Joshua Abraham, the 14th-highest rated male in the tournament with a ranking of No.1,400.

Abraham's twin brother Ty is ranked 87 places lower and will not be seeded as the national under-16 champ is 19th on the list, which also includes compatriots Scott Lanser, Elan Mendes, Ginaluc Robinson and Nabeel Mohammed.

This country's main hope next week is three-time defending Tranquillity Open champ Breana Stampfli, who has a ranking of No.489 and is expected to be the No. 5 seed.

A grand total of 67 players —37 girls and 30 boys—from 28 countries possess world junior rankings and the highest of them all is Vera Aleshcheva, a 15-year-old Russian who is listed at No.244 in the world. There are five females as well as males involved who are ranked in the top 500 in the world.

Arturs Lazdins is at the top of the boys' list, but the Latvian is only nine places higher on the computer than the 332nd-ranked Robbie Ridout of Great Britain.

The under-14 players will be involved in round-robin group action today and tomorrow at Trinidad Country Club, Maraval. Their main draws will also serve off on Monday.

First serve at both venues today is 9 a.m.