Two Golds Each for Holly Holder, Feiyang Wang and Naphat Boonyaprapa!

A massive 86 players participated in the fourth Horsham Spinners 2 Star of the season. There were five boys age categories and also five girls age categories. 3 families took the lion’s share of the medals on offer. The Boonyaprapa household took home three Golds, the Liu family bagged two Golds and a Bronze, while the Boston clan snatched two Silvers and a Bronze! Individuals Holly Holder, Feiyang Wang and Scarlett O’Neil also impressed, as Holder and Wang netted two Golds each and O’Neil got one Gold and one Silver.

Boys U10s:
In the quarters Harry Filson of the host club, Horsham Spinners TTC, had a very good 3-0 win over the number 3 seed, Louis Price (Av), who is ranked almost 300 points higher than him. In the other quarter final Felix Thomis (Bk) defeated Dylan Tynan (Co) in five sets. In the semis top seed, Naphong Boonyaprapa (Ng) saw off Filson in three and second seed, Harry Boston (Ca) put paid to Thomis in four. In the final Boston took the first game but lost the next three 7-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7. Thomis beat Filson in straight sets for the bronze medal. It is worth mentioning that Zach Hodges (Horsham Spinners TTC) only lost to Thomis 11-9 in the fifth in the group. Bertie Kelly (So) beat Luke Darwen (Sx) 3-0 in the consolation final.

Boys U12s:
31 players took part in the Boys U12s. Unranked Samuel Pang (Sy) had a few good wins to get to the quarter finals including beating fifth seed, Herbie Ross (Ca) and sixth seed Boston. There were no further surprises in this event though. In the quarters top seed Jamie Liu (Bk) beat Will McCarthy (K), Ryan Darwen (Sx) beat Price, Boonyaprapa beat Pang and second seed Reece Chamdal (Ox) beat Thomis. In the semis Liu defeated Darwen in three and Chamdal knocked out Boonyaprapa also in three. Liu then won the final 10-12, 11-7, 13-11, 11-4. In the bronze medal match, Darwen held his nerve to win a close three-setter against the higher ranked Boonyaprapa 16-14, 13-11, 16-14. Tim Walters (K) beat Max Steel (Sx) in the consolation final 3-2.

Boys U14s:
This was the largest event, with 33 entrants. All but one of the top eight seeds reached the quarter finals. The exception was Ryan Darwen, who had a close loss to Vincent Chu (Mi). The quarter final line-up was as follows: top seed Naphat Boonyaprapa (Ng) Vs Callum Ashworth, fourth seed Ben Naylor-Smith (Mi) Vs fifth seed Yaj Vashee (Ha), third seed Dexter Sherin (Sx) Vs Alistair Smith (Sx) and second seed Liu Vs Chu. All the higher seeds came through their matches, with the closest being Naylor-Smith Vs Vashee, which unsurprisingly went to the fifth set. In the first semi, Boonyaprapa defeated Naylor-Smith, but in the bottom half semi, there was an unfortunate situation where the player umpiring the match made some errors in the fifth set and this led to some conflict. In the end, it was Sherin who won the fifth set 11-7. The final was a nail-biter with Boonyaprapa taking the first two games 11-5, 12-10, but Sherin then hitting back with two 11-9 games. It went all the way to the wire in the decider, which Boonyaprapa won 13-11. The bronze medal match also went to five, with Liu overcoming Naylor-Smith. In the consolation final, Louis Jones (E) beat Matt Johnson (Sx).

Boys U16s:
There were 28 players in this event. Top seed Gus Thomis (Bk) made it safely to the final with wins over Ashworth, Abdur-Rahman Kelani (K) and fourth seed, Sam Liu (Bk), who had knocked out Justin Jeffery (E) in the quarters. In the bottom half of the draw it was the third seed, Naphat Boonyaprapa, who reached the final, defeating Chu, Naylor-Smith and second seed Josh Gallen (Bk) on the way. Gallen had beaten Vashee in the other quarter final. The final was won by the lower ranked Boonyaprapa 11-9, 6-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7. Gallen won the bronze medal match Vs Liu 3-1. Liam Squirrell (E) was victorious in the consolation event over Matt Johnson, who lost in his second consolation final of the day.

Boys U18s:
The top seed for this event did not turn up and by the time it was known that he was not showing up, the groups were all progressing, so this left a gap in the top half of the draw. This was filled by Sam Liu, who had been runner-up to Lucas Papantoniou (Mi) in the group, but who beat the Group 1 winner, Mateusz Mikosz (He) in the quarters. Papantoniou beat David Busari (Sy) in his quarter final. No. 3 seed, Dan Pound (Horsham Spinners TTC) saw off Gallen in the group and then George Wells-Martin (Sy) in the quarters. The remaining quarter final was Gus Thomis Vs Gallen and it was the former who prevailed. Both semi finals were 3-1, with Liu beating the higher ranked Thomis and Papantoniou beating Pound. In the final, after a close opening game Liu won surprisingly easily in games two and three 13-11, 11-2, 11-4. This was a reversal of the result, when they had met at the group stage. Pound won the 3rd/4th place match vs Thomis 12-10, 12-10, 11-7. Andrew Jackson (Sy) defeated Qwentin Kwan (He) in the consolation final.

Girls U10s:
Scarlett O’Neil (K) dominated a round robin group of three in this event, with Isabel Webb (K) coming second and Melissa Berry (Sx) third. Webb came back from 0-2 down to win the last three games all 11-9!

Girls U12s:
Unranked Feiyang Wang (Mi) won a round robin of four in this category. She was very comfortable and did not drop a set. O’Neil came second with a five set win over Habina Seo (Ha), who came third. Webb was fourth.

Girls U14s:
Wang again won this event, but was tested more, being extended to five games by both third placed Sarah James (E) and fourth placed Medha Verman (Sy). Charlotte Boston (Ca), who finished second couldn’t take an end off the champion.

Girls U16s:
This was two groups of four. Top seed Holly Holder (Sx) won Group 1 with ease, with Boston taking the runners-up spot, with a five set win over Rutna Vashee (Ha). Zoe Davies (E) win Group 2 with a very close points count back for the remaining three places in the group. This was narrowly won by Rebecca Lowman (E). Holder beat Lowman in the semis & Davies beat Boston in the other semi 12-10 in the fifth. Holder won the final in straight sets. Boston beat Lowman 3-1 for the bronze. Vashee beat Verma 3-1 in the consolation final.

Girls U18s:
This was a round robin of four, which was won by Holder. Davies came second, Lowman third and Vashee fourth.

Summary of Results:
Boys U10s:
Main: Naphong Boonyaprapa (Ng) beat Harry Boston (Ca) 3-1
Consolation: Bertie Kelly (So) beat Luke Darwen (Sx) 3-0

Boys U12s:
Main: Jamie Liu (Bk) beat Reece Chamdal (Ox) 3-1
Consolation: Tim Walters (K) beat Max Steel (Sx) 3-2

Boys U14s:
Main: Naphat Boonyaprapa (Ng) beat Dexter Sherin (Sx) 3-2
Consolation: Louis Jones (E) beat Matt Johnson (Sx)

Boys U16s:
Main: Naphat Boonyaprapa (Ng) beat Gus Thomis (Bk) 3-2
Consolation: Liam Squirrell (E) beat Matt Johnson (Sx)

Boys U18s:
Main: Sam Liu (Bk) beat Lucas Papantoniou (Mi) 3-0
Consolation: Andrew Jackson (Sy) beat Quentin Kwan (He)

Girls U10s:
1st: Scarlett O’Neill (K)
2nd: Isabel Webb (K)

Girls U12s:
1st: Feiyang Wang (Mi)
2nd: Scarlett O’Neill (K)

Girls U14s:
1st: Feiyang Wang (Mi)
2nd: Charlotte Boston (Ca)

Girls U16s:
Main: Holly Holder (Sx)
Consolation: Zoe Davies (E)

Girls U18s:
1st: Holly Holder (Sx)
2nd: Zoe Davies (E)

Rory Scott (July 24, 2014)