tennis-gloucestershire

Congratulations to all who took part - read the three stories about our Gloucestershire juniors

Gloucestershire Juniors Take Titles at The Oxstalls Junior Open

Some great performances from Gloucestershire Juniors saw four titles out of the eight going to Gloucestershire Children. On the first of two finals days at the Oxstalls Tennis Centre, Gloucester some high quality matches indoors produced winners in the Boys U 10’s, 14’s and 18’s and the Girls U 18’s.

The boys under 10’s singles saw Matthew Bell win 2-4, 5-3, 10-7 against Declan Moran from Oxstalls in an enthralling final in which both boys produced some exceptional tennis. The girls under 10’s was won by Katie Swan with Charlotte Fox as runner up.

Chris Morrow took the Boys Under 14’s title with a 7-5 4-6 10-2 win over Edward Hardiman coming back from 5-2 down in the first set. He also took the Under 14’s doubles with Ross Gilbert, beating Elliot Hopson and Jack Styman in three sets.

In the boys under 18’s singles number one seed Richard Owen won 6-4 6-4 to take the title against Ben Langley. Richard also partnered Tom Barton for the doubles title to win in three sets against Church & Sherlock.

Elisha Hande won the 18 & under girls singles with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Lauren Prince. In the girls under 14’s singles Laura Eales was runner up to Dominique Covington with a very hard fought game, losing 7-5, 7-5.

Doubles winners from Gloucestershire also included Laura Eales and Lillie Owen taking the Girls Under 14’s title, Laura beating younger sister Jenny and her partner Chloe Alpine.

The under 12’s and 16’s events started on Thursday with finals being held on Saturday 1st November.

Oxstalls Junior Tennis Open

The Oxstalls Junior Tennis Championships held at Oxstalls Tennis, Gloucester finished on Saturday after a successful weeks tennis in which over 300 matches were played including 601 sets and 4600 games.

Darren Morris Tennis Performance Officer for Aspire Sports and Cultural Trust said ‘It was great to see over 200 children competing at such a high standard including players from Gloucestershire. To schedule that many matches with the majority indoors was a fantastic achievement’

Saturday’s finals once again saw players from Gloucestershire do really well unfortunately coming runners up. The boys under 16’s final saw Daniel Omnes (Painswick) lose in three sets 5-7 6-2 10-4 to Adam Woodall (Staffordshire) in a very close match. Olivia Horn (Cheltenham) also came runner up in the girls Under 12’s singles eventually losing to Alice Snart (Avon) 6-2 6-1.

Other results included Under 16’s girls singles Dominique Covington (Avon) take her second title of the week after winning the under 14’s singles, beat Joanna Kondratowicz (Worcestershire). The Boys under 12’s saw Sebastian Butler beat Ross Gilbert (Both Avon).

The doubles events saw all Gloucestershire pairings in the boys 16’s and 12’s finals with Chris Cole and Matthew Morrow winning against brother Chris Morrow and his partner Peter Webb in the 16’s. The 12’s saw Rhodri Hande and Samuel Tullett beating Nicholas Hedworth and Christopher Bell.

The tournament was a success for Oxstalls Tennis Centre and the junior players of Gloucestershire, competing against opposition from all over the country.

Gordon Aitken Tennis Centre Manager commented ‘This is the first year we have held this standard of tournament and we will be looking to do many more in the future years to come.’

Oxstalls Open Mini Tennis Championships

Oxstalls Tennis Centre, Gloucester held their Mini Tennis Championships alongside the Oxstalls Junior Tennis Open. The Mini Tennis Championships were for Mini Red players, Under 8’s and Mini Orange players, Under 9’s. Mini tennis is played with smaller rackets on a smaller court and with special balls so that children can control the ball better and have rallies just like normal tennis.

Mini tennis is a programme run by the LTA which encourages children to take up tennis at the age of five and have success in hitting a sponge ball, learning the basics techniques and skills required on a tennis court. Oxstalls Tennis Centre runs many courses during term time, holidays and every Saturday morning for any budding Andy Murray’s who want to take up the sport.

The Mini Tennis Championships saw some good matches played in good spirit with a number of local Tennis Leaders assisting on court to help umpire the matches. In the Mini Red’s boys Daniel Hallam (Oxstalls) came out as the winner with Joshua Hadley (Worcester) as the runner up. The girl’s event saw Lily Crowther (Shipston-on-Stour) win with Danielle Gibson (Tewkesbury) as the runner up.

The Mini Orange event saw sixteen boys and eleven girls from the South West and Midlands competing in some hard fought and close matches, with the best of three tie break sets. The boys event saw Tom Carter (East Glos) beat Samuel Hedges (Bristol) 7-2 7-3 in the final with a very high standard of tennis being played. The girls event saw Maria Budin (Bristol) beat Kate Horsburgh (Worcester) 7-3 7-3.

Darren Morris, Tennis Performance Officer for Aspire Sports and Cultural Trust commented ‘The tennis was of an excellent standard. It was great to see so many children from all over the South West and Midlands compete at Oxstalls Tennis Centre for the Inaugural Championships. We hope to see them and many more competing in years to come’. The standard of tennis was also recognised by the LTA’s Talent and Performance Co-ordinator for Gloucestershire.

For more information on any mini tennis courses or tournaments contact the centre on 01452 396969.