A Grand Day for Grant:
(Report by Rory Scott)
The last Greenhouse Bevin 2 Star of the season attracted a whopping 108 entrants (184 entries including morning & afternoon events) playing on 20 tables. The entry was so high that it was decided to run the U13s, U15s & U18s Boys events as straight knockout events, although to make up for this U13s & U18s were split into 2 bands & U15s into 3 bands & there were consolation events in these 7 categories. The U11s Boys & all of the Girls events were in groups, but with no consolation events. There were many drop outs on the day, which meant groups & KO matches had to be altered, meaning a later start than hoped for (advance notice that a player is not coming helps the referee a great deal). On top of this the knockout format made for a lot more admin for the organisers, as there were more score sheets to write out etc., so it did mean that players were generally on later than expected, but all of the events were completed & many players who would not normally have played more than 2 group matches, went home with trophies for the banded events, so the different format would have benefitted some, but not others. Having said that, for future events we will revert to group format & restrict entries if necessary.
Boys U11s:
This was supposed to be 4 groups of 4 but with dropouts became 4 groups of 3. The top 4 seeds won their groups quite comfortably & England no. 1 U11, James Smith (K) beat Kai Ghazi-Timms (Mi) in the quarters & TJ Stewart (Sy) in the semis. TJ had beaten team mate Joseph Raskino (Sy) in the quarters. On the other side of the draw 2nd seed Sam Wilson (Bu) beat Matteo Wilson (Sy) in the quarters but in the semis succumbed to 3rd seed Reiss Vydelingum (K), who had earlier defeated James’ younger brother Liam. In the final having dropped the first set 14-12, Smith stepped up a gear to win the next 3 sets 11-6, 11-2, 11-3.
Girls U11s:
This was a round robin of just 3 players. Katie Holt (Ha) beat Ernest Bevin club mates Anna Raymakers (Sy) & Emily Brownhill (Sy) to take top spot. Anna beat Emily for 2nd place.
Boys U13s Band 1:
Top Seed for this event was Liam Grant (Sy) & he made steady progress to the final accounting for Che Marshall (Mi), Kester Pardoe (Mi) & Ben Foster (K) en route. On the other side of the draw 2nd seed James Smith pulled out, leaving a path open for Jay Ghazi-Timms (Mi) to get to the semis, beating Numayr Malik (Mi), Adam Allaway (He) & Marley Cross (Sy) to get there. There he met 3rd seed (now 2nd seed) Jack Merton (K), who had 2 byes due to dropouts & then had taken care of Hassan Jiwajee (Mi) in the quarters. The semi final went according to ranking & therefore Jack went on to meet Liam in the final. Jack never seemed to get out of first gear against Liam, which meant a very one-sided final, as Liam won 11-1, 11-5, 11-4. The consolation event was won by host club player Bejay Arjan (Sy) who beat Jake Henley (He) in the semis & Kiitan Adon-Abel (Mi) 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 in the final. Kiitan had knocked out Thurajan Sivarajah (E) in the semis.
Boys U13s Band 2:
Scratch entry George Mills (Mi) became the top seed for this event & carried all before him as far as the final, where he triumphed 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 over namesake George Penstone (He). To get the final Mills had negotiated the obstacles of Khalid Yusuf (Mi), Joseph Noah (Sy) & Atef Ahmed (Mi), while Penstone had come through vs players from 4 different counties in Alfie Dillon (Mi), Shrey Chandran (E), Anthony Atkins (Sy) & Max Aldous (He). In a cracking consolation final Sebastian Adler (Mi) scraped through by the skin of his teeth vs Nathan O’Toole (Mi) 11-8, 8-11, 15-13, 8-11, 14-12. In the semis Adler had beaten Alfie Dillon & O’Toole had knocked out Amir Mahmoudian (He).
Girls U13s:
This was a round robin group of 6 players & was won by Jestina George (Mi) with Juliette Moussarie (Mi) in 2nd place.
Boys U15s Band 1:
No. 1 seed Ryan Williams made it to the final with wins over Jay Ghazi-Timms, Jack Merton & Jack Davies (K), who had beaten 4th seed Jimmy Yeung (Ha) a round earlier. However the all-conquering 2nd seed, pocket-rocket Liam Grant went one further & having had some really close matches in the quarters & semis vs Jack Josephs (Mi) & Senyo Owusu (Mi) respectively, he went on to win an epic final 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9! This kid is destined for great things-watch this space! In the consolation event Ovigwe Eyarhono (Sy) from the host club beat Josh Gallen (Bk) in the semi & then James Corner (Mi) 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 in the final. Corner had knocked out Jay Ghazi-Timms in the penultimate round.
Boys U15s Band 2:
4th seed Hassan Jiwajee won this event overcoming first Thurajan Sivarajah, then George Mills & then knocking out top seed Che Marshall in the semis & then in a gargantuan final triumphed 5-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11 vs scratch entry Romayne Stewart (Mi). Romayne had put Hamza Rehman (Mi), Kiitan Adon-Abel, Mileak Manza (Mi), & Bejay Arjan to the sword in earlier rounds. The consolation was won by Kiitan, making up for his loss in the U13s Band 1 Consolation final. He defeated Max Aldous in the semis & Atef Ahmed (who had knocked out Solomon Thomas (E) in the semi) in the final by 11-5, 12-10, 11-7.
Boys U15s Band 3:
In the top half of the draw Ibraheem Issack (Mi) was the player to beat, as he accounted for 3 Middlesex players, Emilio Hoang, Tai Luu & Frederick Anson to reach the final stage. In the bottom half of the draw that role was occupied by Charlie Onslow (Mi), who managed to beat Nathan O’Toole, Joseph Noah & Tomoaki Uchiyama (He) to get there. The final went to 5 ends, with Issack finishing the stronger by 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6. Surprisingly the Boys U15s Band 3 consolation final was contested by the same two players who met in the Boys U13s Band 2 Consolation final. The result was the too with Sebastian Adler again defeating Nathan O’Toole, this time by 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9. They had beaten Tim Lambden (Mi) & Nick Radia (Mi) respectively to get to the final.
Girls U15s:
This consisted of a group of 4 & a group of 5. Top seed Evie Foster (K) beat Ema Gadzhova (Mi) in the first semi & 2nd seed Kate Cheer (Sx) beat Sanaa Jebari (Mi) in the 2nd semi. Evie then beat Kate in a topsy-turvy 5-set final.
Boys U18s Band 1:
Joseph Langham-Ferreira (Sy) from the host club was the top seed for this category. He made it to the semi final with wins over Aaron Baksh (K), & Jack Davies (K), but then met in form Micah Salmon (Mi), whom he had played twice in the Crawley 2 Star (winning once & losing once) & failed to proceed to the final. Salmon had knocked out Jack Josephs & Sasha Somers (He) to get to the semis. On the bottom half of the draw 2nd seed Ryan Williams pulled out & was replaced by Tyla Anderson (Mi), who took his place as the 2nd seed. Tyla was too much for Martin Matuzevicius (Ha), Musa Sharif-Ali (Mi) & Farren Seamon in the semis. However Musa & Farren had had great wins before playing Tyla. Musa had a big win over Jimmy Yeung, but Farren outdid that by first beating 3rd seed Ho Yin-Lee (Sy) & then 7th seed Senyo Owusu. The final was a straight sets win for Tyla over Micah 11-7, 11-7, 11-9. The semi finals of the consolation event were Toby Bartram (K) vs Ovi Eharhono & Jack Josephs vs Tommy Gritton (He). Jack went on to beat Toby 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9 in the final.
Boys U18s Band 2:
In a Band 2 event, you might not expect the top 2 seeds to make it to the final, but that is exactly what happened in this case. Top seeded Livingstone Nadarajah (E) had victories over Vaidik Pindolia (Mi) & Tom Holt (Ha) in getting to the final & 2nd seeded Lucan Papantoniou (Mi) proved too strong for Charlie Onslow, Mileak Manza, & Owen Scully (He). Lucas then won 2 close games 11-9, followed by a comfortable 11-5 to take the title. Boys U15s Band 3 runner-up Charlie Onslow won the consolation with wins over Emilio Hoang & Tai Luu. Tai defeated Edward Turner to get to the final. The score in the final was 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.
Girls U18s:
This was a group of 4 players & was won by Evie Foster, with Sophie Tofalides (Mi) in 2nd place.
Summary of Results:
U11s Boys:
James Smith (K) bt Reiss Vydelingum (K) 3-1 (12-14, 11-6, 11-2, 11-3)
U13s Boys Band 1:
Main Draw: Liam Grant (Sy) bt Jack Merton (K) 3-0 (11-1, 11-5, 11-4)
Consolation: Bejay Arjan (Sy) bt Kiitan Adon-Abel (Mi) 3-1 (8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9)
U13s Boys Band 2:
Main Draw: George Mills (Mi) bt George Penstone (He) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-9)
Consolation: Sebastian Adler (Mi) bt Nathan O’Toole (Mi) 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 15-13, 8-11, 14-12)
U15s Boys Band 1:
Main Draw: Liam Grant (Sy) bt Ryan Williams (E) 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9)
Consolation: Ovi Eyarhono (Sy) bt James Corner (Mi) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-8)
U15s Boys Band 2:
Main Draw: Hassan Jiwajee (Mi) bt Romayne Stewart (Mi) 3-2 (5-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11)
Consolation: Kiitan Adon-Abel (Mi) bt Atef Ahmed (Mi) 3-0 (11-5, 12-10, 11-7)
U15s Boys Band 3:
Main Draw: Ibraheem Issack (Mi) bt Charlie Onslow (Mi) 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6)
Consolation: Sebastian Adler (Mi) bt Nathan O’Toole (Mi) 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9)
U18s Boys Band 1:
Main Draw: Tyla Anderson (Mi) bt Micah Salmon (Mi) 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-9)
Consolation: Jack Josephs (Mi) bt Toby Bartram (K) 3-1 (11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9)
U18s Boys Band 2:
Main Draw: Lucas Papantoniou (Mi) bt Livingstone Nadarajah (E) 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-5)
Consolation: Charlie Onslow (Mi) bt Tai Luu (Mi) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-6)
U11s Girls:
1st: Katie Holt (Ha), 2nd: Anna Raymakers (Sy)
U13s Girls:
1st: Jestina George (Mi), 2nd: Juliette Moussarie (Mi)
U15s Girls:
1st: Evie Foster (K), 2nd: Kate Cheer (Sx)
U18s Girls:
1st: Evie Foster (K), 2nd Sophie Tofalides (Mi)