Southbourne TC players Sheui Belcher, Reiga Belcher, Natalie Carter were among a whole host of Dorset winners at the club’s latest tournament after claiming four titles between them at the event.
Natalie Carter, fresh from her victory in the girls’ consolation event at the Road to Wimbledon tournament, won two titles as she continued her successful streak of wins. Carter won the girls’ 14 & under event after beating fellow Dorset player Mollie Parsons in the final 6-3, 7-6(5). Danielle Sebata and Mirsha Hobbs, both of Dorset, both made the semi-finals.
The girls’ 16 & under event was Carter’s second title of the week as she came from a set down to beat Marsha Hobbs in the final 1-6, 6-3, 1-0(2). Carter registered wins over the top two seeds of the draw, beating both Marsha and Mirsha Hobbs en route to the title.
Sheui and Reiga Belcher were in full control as they won the boys’ 16 & under and 14 & under draws respectively. Sheui dropped just five games in his two matches en route to the win, after receiving a bye in the first round. He beat Darshan Brooks, Dorset, in the semi-finals 6-1, 6-0 before completing a 6-1, 6-3 win over David Darrock in the final.
Reiga scored an emphatic title win after came through the draw without dropping a set. Playing as the top seed, he made short work of the field en route to the final where he met fellow Dorset player and second seed Cameron May. A close first set went to Reiga via a tie-break and he never looked back from there as he sealed a 7-6(1), 6-2 victory. Jose Pegorini and Ben Samuel made it through to the quarter-finals whilst Darshan Brooks registered a second semi-final of the week after being beaten 6-3, 6-4 by May.
Elliot Dawson was the winner of the boys’ 18 & under draw after he finished top of the five-man round robin group. Dawson recorded wins over all-but-one of his opponents, but claimed the title thanks to having won the highest number of sets. The other players in the round robin group were; Callum Li, Chris Blythe, David Darrock and Mitchel Bentley. Dawson also reached the semi-finals of the boys’ 16 & under draw.
In the girls’ 18 & under Marsha Hobbs was the winner of the round robin format after maintaining a 100% winning record. She beat Olivia James, Alice Carpenter and Kisari Belcher in straight sets to complete the win.
There was one more victory for a Dorset player as Timothy Jarvis won the boys’ 10 & under competition after coming through qualification and winning both of his matches in the main draw. He beat Stanley Brown in the final 4-2, 4-1 to win the competition.
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By Harry Lund