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>>Tournament
Photo Gallery
30th
CHESHAM BOIS JUNIOR OPEN TOURNAMENT 2008
Chesham
Bois LTC 30th annual Open Junior Tennis Tournament
coincided with the Club’s Centenary and the
50th anniversary of our move to the current site.
Finals day proved to be dry and warm with no wind,
ideal tennis weather after a week when the elements
threatened to bring it to a halt and matches had
to be reduced to short sets, single deuces and
tiebreakers. Bank holiday Monday was a day of
continuous heavy rain and strong winds making
any play impossible. The weather continued to
disrupt play throughout the rest of the week and
many thanks are due to Chesham 1879 who facilities
enabled the tournament to continue. Play at 1879
had its moments exemplified when a duck landed
on the court only to be struck by a serve. Fortunately
only the duck’s pride was injured.
As
2008 is Chesham Bois LT&SC’s Centenary
year, Roger Draper; Chief Executive of the LTA
came to present the trophies. During the afternoon
of this Grade 3 ranking tournament he had the
opportunity to view the club’s excellent
facilities and see some top rate tennis, including
a rising British hopeful Kyra Akinnibi who, though
only 10, reached the finals of U18 Girls singles.
At the awards ceremony he spoke of how he quickly
had a sense of the club he was visiting and congratulated
all those responsible for its really great atmosphere.
The
finals themselves produced some memorable tennis
and the boys’ singles produced some really
tight matches. The18 & Under Boys singles
produced a long and very tactical match with last
years’ winner Andrew Coates taking the first
set on a tiebreaker and coming back from 1-4 in
the championship tiebreaker against Joshua Oxley
to retain his title. The 16 & Under Boys final
was a fine display of aggressive tennis by both
players with the 6th seed Adam Skalsky taking
the title from the no 1 seed 6-3, 6-3 and in the
14 & Under George Irwin and Samm Butler produced
two closely fought sets with George winning 7-5,
6-4. The 12 and 10 & Under finals produced
straightforward wins for Tintin Smith and Toby
Rogers Respectively.
In
the 18 & Under Boys doubles Joshua Oxley and
Alexander Barnes proved a little too strong for
Kieran Muir & Ben Smith but Kieran reversed
the tables in the mixed doubles partnering with
Megan Cunningham, whose tennis was the deciding
factor, to beat Joshua and his partner Emma Strong.
The
two other boys’ doubles, 14 and 12 &
Under were both decided in two closely fought
sets with Samm Butler & Michael Patch and
Alexander Fage & Calum Mackinlay taking the
respective titles.
The
girls’ singles were in general more one sided
with Heather McNeill beating the young Kyra Akinibi
6-0, 6-2 for the 18 & Under crown, Rianka
Patel taking both the 16 and 14 & Under titles
with a win over Sarah Spanswick 6-1, 6-4 in the
former and a walkover in the latter. The 12 &
Under produced the one close match with Marie
Ba taking the first set form Hollie Davies on
a tiebreaker and going in to win 7-6, 6-3. In
the 10 an under Natasha Commins proved just a
little too strong for Grace Morales winning 4-4,
4-2.
Grace
Russell & Sarah Brunswick took the 18 &
Under girls doubles title with a Straightforward
6-0, 6-2 win over Claire Birmingham and Georgia
Morrison and the 12 & Under winners were Jessica
De Mulder and Chloe Lunt by 6-4, 6-0 against Anna
Sinclair and Gabriela Web.
In
a year with limited home club entries Christian
Slater reached the quarter finals of the 14&
Under singles and the Schweppes Award for the
Chesham Bois player playing progressing furthest
in the tournament was won by Jamie McKinnon who
lost a close quarter final match 7-5, 7-5 to the
number 1 seed in the 16 & Under and, having
beaten two higher ranked players, lost to the
number 5 seed Kieran Muir in the third round of
the 18 & Under. The Awards for sportsmanship
and general behaviour where presented to Heather
McNeill (Gill Nunn Trophy) and Kieran Muir (Stackhouse
Trophy).
Again
a huge vote of thanks is due to the Junior Tournament
committee headed by the indefatigable Alison Maloney,
the ever patient Tournament Referee Sarah Tricks
ably supported by her assistant Sheila Smith,
the team of Umpires and of course all the volunteers
who provide the continuous supply of catering
required to satisfy the needs of the ever hungry
competitors.
Photographs:
>>
TOURNAMENT PHOTO GALLERY
-
Winners and beat of the main and consolation
events together with Roger Draper CEO of the
LTA who presented the prizes.
- Roger
Draper with Jamie Mckinnon, winner of the Schweppes
Award for the Chesham Bois player playing progressing
furthest in the tournament
-
Adam Skalsky, winner of the Boys 16& Under
singles in full flow
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