London Under-11 Girls got the first trophy in the bag at the Inter-Regional Finals in Hatfield today, with five team finals to follow on Sunday morning.
Five other regions will contest at least one final, with East leading the way with three.
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Cadet Boys
South West and East Midlands were unbeaten and will contest tomorrow’s final, but both were pushed hard in their decisive final matches by their closest rivals.
South West twice came from behind to beat North West in the key clash in Group 1, thanks to two singles victories by Jakub Piwowar.
Toby Ellis put North West in front by beating Oliver Cornish in three (12, 7, 9) but Piwowar levelled the tie in three against Liam Bibby (9, 4, 6). Ellis & Bibby took the doubles in four but South West pulled it back again as Cornish saw off Bibby in four.
The decider was a super match between Piwowar and Ellis and it was the former who edged home 3-2 (14-12, 3-11, 11-8, 4-11, 12-10).
South West were also pushed by Southern, winning 3-2 as Todd Stanmore took two matches for the beaten side, including overcoming singles top seed Oliver Cornish 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8).
Southern took third in the group, with West Midlands fourth and London fifth.
East Midlands had a Group 2 showdown with South East, their opponents actually arriving at that point with a better record of three 5-0 wins.
East Midlands were never behind but saw South East twice level the tie in a match which saw four of the individual matches go to deciders.
Georgios Gerakios was the hero with two singles victories, giving EM the lead by defeating Mahmood Kelani 11-9 in the fifth and then sealing victory by the same scoreline against Harry Yip. In between, Yip and Kelani both beat Samuel Cooper, either side of a doubles victory for Gerakios & Alex Cochrane over Yip & Shem Lejarde.
Yorkshire were third in the group, ahead of East and North East.
Cadet Girls
East will play defending champions South West in the final after both topped their groups in fine style.
The East line-up of Samadhi Udamulla and Maliha Baig advanced past Yorkshire, South East and North East without dropping a game, although Baig twice came from 2-1 down to win in five against Yorkshire, overcoming Rebecca Savage and Mukmanee Warburton.
That was in the first round of matches and it turned out to be the key results as Yorkshire won their remaining two clashes – 4-1 over North East and 5-0 over South East. North East beat South East 5-0 to finish third in the group.
South West – Lauren Loosemore and Angharad Beman – were almost as dominant in Group 2, beating North West and West Midlands 5-0 either side of a 4-1 win over East Midlands.
The beaten side in that match were group runners-up, beating West Midlands and North West 5-0. North West were third in the four-team group by virtue of beating West Midlands 5-0.
Under-13 Boys
East Midlands will face South East in the final after both won key battles in the final round of matches.
In Group 1, East beat West in the battle of the Midlands to take the final spot, both having gone unbeaten to that point.
Joseph Cooper made the difference with two victories, in four games against Daniel Jones and in three against Christopher Ho. Ho beat Cameron Driver and West Midlands won the doubles to lead 2-1, but Driver levelled against Jones, which left Cooper to bring it home.
London were third in the group, South West fourth and Southern fifth.
Group 2 was tighter as South East finished level on three wins with East but went into the final by defeating them 4-1 in the final round.
They did go behind, Ethan Eaketts defeating Ojasvil Borah, but George Noel won twice and Borah was victorious in his second match, while also partnering Jacob Archer to take the doubles.
South East had earlier lost to North East, who were fourth in the group, behind Yorkshire and ahead of North West.
Under-13 Girls
East clocked up their second girls’ final appearance and will face South East in tomorrow morning’s final.
With Yorkshire withdrawing, only three teams took their places in Group 1 and it was South East who came through, though in slightly curious circumstances.
Both teams beat East Midlands 3-2 – in the case of South West, thanks to winning the first three matches, all in deciding sets. The South East match was the reverse, as they came from 2-0 down after Inara Ahmed defeated Evelyn Pace and Roma Morjaria overcame Emily Cheung. The comeback started with the doubles and then Cheung beat Ahmed and Pace won against Morjaria to keep South East in the hunt.
The match to decide the group winner promised to be close and yet it ended 5-0 in favour of the South East pair.
East (Darcy Brewer and Mabel Shute), reached a last-match decider against West Midlands thanks to a 4-1 win over North West and a 3-2 margin over Southern. West Midlands had beaten both teams 4-1.
With a place in the final at stake, West Midlands took the lead through Bethany Pye’s 3-1 win over Brewer, but East won the next three. Shute levelled by defeating Anya Sompura 3-2 (11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8) and the doubles was won also in five (11-2, 7-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-2). Brewer then put her team in the final by overcoming Sompura in four.
North West beat Southern 5-0 to take third place in the group.
Under-11 Boys
North East were in splendid form, the trio of Zach Greenhough, Seth Holland and Jack Higgins winning two matches 5-0 and two 4-1 to take their place in the final.
They ended with a 4-1 scoreline over nearest rivals West Midlands, who were second in the group ahead of London, Yorkshire and North West.
North East’s opponents in the final will be East, who had a tougher path with two 3-2 victories along the way, the squad of Sudheep Kamma, Jeremy Davies, Ben Chivers and Isaac Kingham overcoming nearest rivals South West by that score.
East Midlands were third in Group 1, followed by Southern and South East.
Under-11 Girls
London’s squad of Mia Lakhani and Eleanor Turner-Samuels swept to the title in the round-robin group of five teams.
The girls combined to beat North West and South West 5-0 and East 4-1 to set up a decider against East Midlands, who were also unbeaten to that point thanks to two 4-1 victories and a 3-2 margin against East.
The decider hinged on the second match. With Lakhani having defeated Evie Ferrer 3-1 (13-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7) in the first match, Millie Noble led 2-0 against Turner-Samuels and looked on her way to levelling. However, Turner-Samuels turned it around to win a close tie 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-9) and put London 2-0 ahead overall.
London won the doubles against Isabelle Hall & Melissa Withers in three to ensure they could not be beaten and, after Lakhani overcame Noble in four, the final tie was not played.
East finished third with two victories, while North West beat South West to claim fourth spot.
Comebacks
The following matches saw players fight back from 2-0 down to win 3-2:
U11B: Wajid Wafiq (WM) bt Michael Downey (NW) 3-2 (9-11, 12-14, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5)
U11B: Jeremy Davies (E) bt Callem Pace (SE) 3-2 (9-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8)
CG: Ruby Bennett (NW) bt Eleanor Fletcher (WM) 3-2 (6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5)
U13G: Anya Sompura (WM) bt Milly Hanrahan (NW) 3-2 (9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9)
U11B: Jun Chung (WM) bt Tristan Madayag (L) 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9)
U13B: Ralph Pattison (E) bt Luke Lowther (Y) 3-2 (6-11, 3-11, 11-7, 14-12, 11-5)
U13G: Anna Hartley (NW) bt Anna Piercey (S) 3-2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8)
U11G: Eleanor Turner-Samuels (L) bt Millie Noble (EM) 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-9)
CB: Ben Dunkley (S) bt Logan Macey (SW) 3-2 (1-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6)
Results
Cadet Boys
Group 1: South West 5 London 0, Southern 5 West Midlands 0, North West 5 London 0, South West 5 West Midlands 0, North West 5 West Midlands 0, South West 3 Southern 2, South West 3 North West 2, Southern 4 London 1.
Group 2: East Midlands 5 North East 0, Yorkshire 5 East 0, South East 5 North East 0, East Midlands 5 East 0, South East 5 East 0, East Midlands 4 Yorkshire 1, South East 5 Yorkshire 0, East 5 North East 0, East Midlands 3 South East 2, Yorkshire 5 North East 0.
Cadet Girls
Group 1: East 5 Yorkshire 0, North East 5 South East 0, East 5 South East 0, Yorkshire 4 North East 1, East 5 North East 0, Yorkshire 5 South East 0.
Group 2: East Midlands 5 West Midlands 0, South West 5 North West 0, South West 4 East Midlands 1, North West 5 West Midlands 0, East Midlands 5 North West 0, South West 5 West Midlands 0.
Under-13 Boys
Group 1: East Midlands 3 South West 2, London 4 Southern 1, West Midlands 4 South West 1, East Midlands 4 London 1, West Midlands 3 London 2, East Midlands 4 Southern 1, West Midlands 4 Southern 1, London 3 South West 2, East Midland 3 West Midlands 2, South West 4 Southern 1.
Group 2: East 4 North East 1, Yorkshire 4 North West 1, North East 5 South East 0, East 5 North West 0, South East 5 North West 0, East 4 Yorkshire 1, South East 5 Yorkshire 0, North East 4 North West 1, South East 4 East 1, Yorkshire 3 North East 2.
Under-13 Girls
Group 1: South West 3 East Midlands 2, South East 3 East Midlands 2, South East 5 South West 0.
Group 2: West Midlands 4 Southern 1, East 4 North West 1, East 3 Southern 2, West Midlands 4 North West 1, North West 5 Southern 0, East 3 West Midlands 2.
Under-11 Boys
Group 1: South West 5 Southern 0, East 4 South East 1, East Midlands 5 Southern 0, South West 5 South East 0, East Midlands 5 South East 0, East 3 South West 2, East 3 East Midlands 2, Southern 3 South East 2, South West 3 East Midlands 2, East 5 Southern 0.
Group 2: West Midlands 5 North West 0, London 3 Yorkshire 2, North East 4 North West 1, West Midlands 3 London 2, North East 5 London 0, West Midlands 4 Yorkshire 1, North East 5 Yorkshire 0, London 4 North West 1, North East 4 West Midlands 1, Yorkshire 3 North West 2.
Under-11 Girls
North West 1 East Midlands 4, East 5 South West 0, London 4 East 1, East Midlands 4 South West 1, East 3 North West 2, London 5 South West 0, East Midlands 3 East 2, London 5 North West 0, London 4 East Midlands 0, North West 3 South West 2.