Stamford Tennis Club hosted their first Grade 4 tournament 8th April to 12th April. Six events ran during the week – 8U, 9U, 10U, 12U Boys, 14U Boys and 18U Boys.
The 8U event saw 14 entrants and we ran two boxes of 5 and a box of 4 players, the three box winners and best runner up progressing to the semi-finals. George Bland (Oakham) Jakob Bonnett (Oundle) and Emily Pollard (Knighton Tennis Club) all won their groups without losing a match and Jamie Anderson (Stamford) had the best percentage to go through as best runner up.
The semi-finals saw Emily Pollard come out on top against Jakob Bonnett 10-8 as did George Bland against Jamie Anderson by the same score line. Third / fourth playoff saw Bonnett win 10-6 against Anderson.
The final saw Emily Pollard play George Bland in a tight final with Emily coming out on top to win 10-7.
The 9U event also saw the same format as the 8Us with two boxes of 5 and a box of 4 with the 3 winners of the groups and the best runner up progressing to the semi-finals. Jamie Jefferys (Cambridgeshire) won all his matches to progress as the group winner. Group B saw Samuel Underwood (Corby) win the group despite two of his three matches going the distance to a third set. Group C saw Alexander Boyd -Bench (Cambridgeshire) win his group without losing a match. The best runner up spot went to Tenison Prempeh (Cambridgeshire).
The Semi Finals saw Jamie Jefferies edge past Samuel Underwood in a tight three set match winning 5-7, 7-5, 7-2 while Alexander Boyd-Bench beat Tenison Prempeh 7-3, 7-5.The 3rd/4th place playoff saw Tenison beat Samuel 7-3, 7-4.
The Final saw a very tight match which saw many long rallies with Alexander finally winning the match against Jamie 7-1, 4-7, 7-5.
The under 10s event was a compass draw of 8 players which saw the number 2 seed Leon Kewney (Cambridgeshire) progress to the final with William Barker (Stamford) who knocked the number 1 seed out in his semi-final match. The final saw Leon Kewney come out on top 4-2 5-3.
The 12Us event saw another compass draw of 8 players saw both seeds progress to the final. The number 1 seed George Slater (Oxfordshire) beat Joseph Bryan (Corby) 6-3 7-5.
The 14Us saw a small draw of 6 players (which went down to 5 due to a withdrawal on the day) in an elimination draw. The top two seeds progressed to the final with ease. However the final saw a close match despite the first set score and the second set was a lot closer as the number two seed; James Wood (Nottinghamshire) beat the number one seed, Angus Osborne (Loughborough) 6-0, 6-4.
The final event was the 18Us which again was an elimination draw. Seven boys battled the draw out with again the top two players progressing to the final between Felix Beech (Stamford) and William Bourne (Stamford). The first set saw Felix take the advantage as his excellent play forced William into errors to clinch it 6-1. However the second set saw William get back into the match gradually and finally win the second set 7-5. The deciding match tie break saw William Bourne come through to take it 10-3 claiming victory overall 1-6, 7-5, (10-3).
Reports received from players and parents were positive (And the food went down well too) so from Stamford Tennis Club's point of view we look forward to our next Grade 4 AND your entry.
Peter Harding, R2R Tennis Ltd