Well what a week that was for Manx tennis and 4 Juniors from our club!
The winners of IoM Road to Wimbledon – Charlotte Clarke (13) and Roch Mirski (13) played all week in the County round robin with both qualifying for the knockout stages. Charlotte was 1st in her group and Roch 2nd in his. This was a first for the Isle of Man.
Then on to the knockout stage with 32 players in the Girls and Boys events. Results for Charlotte were: bt Isobel Le Clerc (Durham) 6/2 6/0; bt Annemiek Sterk (N Scotland) 6/4 6/3 in qtr final; s/final bt Maialen Idiakez (Leicester) 6/1 6/0 and so to the final on Friday. She was understandably nervous, but so was her opponent Jemma Cave (Cheshire). However Charlotte is a “tough cookie” and played good tennis at times to win this year’s Road to Wimbledon Girls 14 & under singles 6/4 6/3. Such an achievement and she will now play in the Regional event next year. She is so grateful to all her sponsors who gave her the chance to gain match experience in the UK and toughened her up for the harder matches. Meanwhile Roch was playing well in some tough matches. Results: 2nd round beat Harry Tweed (Durham) 7/5 6/1; quarter-final bt Bosco La I Ching Chung (Lancs) 7/5 6/1. In the semi-final Roch, despite playing some good tennis, lost to Joseph Logan (W Scot.) 6/1 6/3. Joseph was the eventual Champion. The whole week has been filled with e-mails, text messages, photos and p/calls back and forth. Such an exciting week for Manx tennis and something that can be built on for the future. Our younger juniors can really see what can be achieved with hard work and dedication. I think both players see to live at the Ballaughton Meadows courts! Club coach, Ian Watson, must take credit for these results – his inspiration and dedication to both players and the rest of the club’s juniors plus their hard work has brought these results and will bring similar results in the future.
Also at Wimbledon were the Isle of Man runners-up Sarah Long (12) and Jayden Go (13), both of Albany who had a day’s coaching with the runners-up from all the counties which was run by Tim Henman. Jayden and Sarah said they really enjoyed the experience and are sure they have learned a lot.
Reminder that the Summer Camps are starting next week. These are Red Ball for children aged 8yrs and under: Tuesday 28th August 9.30am to 11am; Thursday 30th from 9.30am-11am; Monday 3rd September from 9.30am-11am. There are also some sessions for Orange (players aged 9yrs) and Green ball players (aged 10yrs) on Tuesday 28th August gtom 1pm-3pm, Thursday 30th August from 1pm-3pm; Monday 3rd September from 1pm-3pm. All these sessions are £5 per day. There are two sessions for yellow ball players (aged 11 – 13 yrs.) on Wednesday 29th August and Tuesday 4th September from 1pm-4pm. These sessions are £8 each. To book a place contact ianwatsonpts@manx.net.