Bucks Boy, Barnaby Smith has been crowned U10 Boys Champion at the AEGON British Junior National Championships at the West Hants Club in Bournemouth.
In an notable 16 player draw Barnaby Smith had an impressive win (4-1 5-4) against Dominic West number 1 seed who had won the LTA U10 Clay Court invitational event held at Queenswood School, Hertfordshire in May. Then he went onto the final convincingly beating number 2 seed Norfolk’s Will Davies 4-0 4-0.
Danny West, individual coach to Barney said: 'He was on fire in the semis and finals, executed his game plans perfectly and stayed composed and postive throughout. We are extremely proud of him – he has worked really hard throughout the year and deserves this reward.'
Bucks TPC, Laura Bugg said, 'Barnaby played some very smart tennis he was aggressive with his forehand and used his backhand angle well to pull his opponent out of the court. However Barnaby’s real strength is that he has the ability to break his opponents’ rhythm by mixing up the play, he knows when to change the pace with a slice or drop shot and when to approach the net to volley. He had a real positive attitude and the willingness to fight for every point.'
Katy Dunne, Claudia Marsala and Dean Kelleher also performaed very well at the Aegon 14&U National Championships. Katy coped brilliantly as the event's top seed and made a confident march to the final where she was narrowly beaten by 2nd seed Eleanor Dean in a third set.
Katy went on to compete in the 16&U Nationals a week later and went all the way through to the quarter finals upsetting Scotland's highly rated Joanna Henderson on the way. Despite her loss in the finals, Katy will finish the ranking year as the top 14&U Girls in Great Britain, whilst being frimly entrenched in Europe's top 10. An exciting year ahead beckons as Katy looks now to improve her international ITF (International Tennis Federation) 18&U ranking.
Claudia and Dean both won through to the quarter finals of the 14&U Nationals beating some very strong opposition. Claudia eventually lost to Eleanor Dean whilst Dean lost to Bedfordshire's Josh Sapwell. Finishing in the top 16 of their age-group at the National Championships was a great accomplishment for both players who will use this experience as a spring board to further improvement.
Halton players also dominated a series of LTA Grade 3 events throughout July and August.
Leverstock Green – Claudia Marsala, Girls 16&U winner; Dean Kelleher, Boys 14&U winner
Great Missenden – Owen Richards, 18&U winner; Claudia Marsala 16&U winner; Barney Smith, 10&U winner; Sophie Russell, 10&U winner
Winchester – Michael Patch, 14&U winner
Gerrards Cross – Kathryn Sharples, 18&U winner
Radlett – Alice Patch, 14&U winner; Kathryn Sharples, 18&U winner; Sam Gough, 10&U winner
There have also been some fantastic performances over the summer at Mini Tennis Red and Orange events, with players such as Daniel Dean beginning to step up to the mark as talented young performers.
Mike James, Halton's Director of Tennis commented, 'It has been a superb summer for Halton's juniors with success at all levels and age-groups. We have a very together, committed group of players, coaches and parents with a hugely supportive club keen to see Halton make a real stamp on British Tennis. It is a very exciting time to be involved and we're looking forward to taking things further in 2010.'