Tom Jarvis completed the set of all four age group titles at the Butterfly Schools’ Individual Championships in Tipton, adding the Under-19 crown to those he won at U11, U13 and U16 level.
The 15-year-old Skegness player was in top form, dropping only one set all day as he advanced to a final against surprise package Martin Matuzevicius of Portsmouth.
Matuzevicius, 18, knocked out second seed Omar Khassal in three straight in the quarter finals and saved two match points in beating third seed Billy Forster in five sets in the semis.
But he had no answer to Jarvis, who recorded a 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-5) victory.
Jarvis was delighted to have finished his collection of ESTTA trophies. He said: “The reason I came to the under-19s was because I wanted to complete the set and get a chance to play at the World Schools.
“I didn’t play so well in the group stages but I was able to get my head together for the knockouts.”
Matuzevicius’ verdict was: “I’m really happy – it was a great tournament, probably my best. I feel like I’ve got a breakthrough.
“My aim was to get to the semi-finals but reaching the final was above my expectations.”
Eva Wang was in supreme form in the Under-19 girls’ event, the top seed from Roedean School in Brighton seeing off second seed Lois Peake 3-0 in the final.
The Chinese player said: “It was a hard day but I’m very pleased with the result.”
Peake was pleased to beat Emily Bolton in the last four, saying: “I think it’s good to beat Emily (in the semi-finals) – we always have a bit of a bish-bosh and it was good to get through that.
“Eva is a top quality player and played really well, she deserved to win.”
The top seed was also victorious in the Under-16 boys’ event, but Luke Savill had to do it the hard way, coming from 2-0 down to beat third seed Alec Ward. He was also taken to five in the semi-finals by James Hobson, although he was never behind in that one.
Kent player Savill said: “I think I could have played better but I did what I had to do.
“It was good to win from 2-0 down in the final. Alec played well but I just started attacking more and tried to stay up to the table.”
Cleveland’s Ward said: “I’ve played really well. I knew I had to play Alex Ramsden in the semis and that would be a hard match, so I got mentally up for that.
“I thought I played really well in the final and I thought I had it at 10-10 in the fourth.”
The Under-16 girls was up for grabs after the withdrawal of top seed Tin-Tin Ho through injury.
In the event, the second seed won it, Letitia McMullan beating top seed Kate Cheer in the semi-finals and then 10th seed Charlotte Boston in the final.
McMullan, 16, from Fareham, said: “It feels really good. In patches I didn’t feel I was playing my best but that made me concentrate in the later games.
“I was really hoping to get to the final but didn’t expect anything, I just wanted to take it one game at a time.”
Boston, aged 14 and from St Neots was still delighted with her day’s work. She said: “I can’t believe it, really. I didn’t think I would get that far. I just hoped I would get to the quarter-finals or something.
“I just had a good day, tried my best and put a lot of effort into it.”
The top seeds won three of the first four titles of the day in the Under-11 and Under-13 age groups.
Oldham youngster Amirul Hussain beat Joshua Weatherby in three straight to take the Under-11 Boys’ title in the first final to be played.
Hussain said: “I feel proud. I lost in the semi-finals last year so it feels good to do better.”
Weatherby, from Sunderland, was seeded three and had beaten second seed Jamie Liu in four sets in the semi-finals. He said: “I’m very pleased. I didn’t expect to beat Jamie, it’s the first time I’ve beaten him. I think I played well all day but I was just a bit inconsistent in the final.”
The Under-11 Girls’ title went to No 1 seed Ruby Chan, who beat second seed Scarlett O’Neil 3-0.
Chan, from Harrogate, said: “It feels good to win, it’s one of the best times I’ve played and I only lost one set.
“Me and Scarlett know each other really well and that makes it harder to play against her.”
Gillingham player O’Neil said: “I’m pleased because I got to the final and I haven’t done that before and it’s the third year I’ve played here.”
In the under-13s, top seed Ethan Walsh won the boys’ title and second seed Gauri Duhan the girls’.
Walsh beat Louis Moyes from Norwich, who belied his seeding of No 7 by beating No 6 seed Reece Chamdal in the quarter-finals and No 2 seed Sam Chesterman in the semis, both in five sets. The tie with Chamdal was particularly tight and was one of the games of the day, with Moyes taking it 11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 14-12, 13-11.
But Walsh had too much class in the final, which he won in three straight. The Stevenage youngster said: “At the start of the day I was a bit dodgy but I started playing quite well in the later stages.
“In the semi-final I had Zaiim Premji and he took a set off me and played really well. But that helped me be warmed up and ready for the final.”
Moyes said: “I’m pleased. I came back in a lot of my matches. I played really badly in my group but I progressed as the day went on.”
Duhan, from Hull, broke the trend of top seeds winning titles as she beat No 1 Charlotte Bardsley 3-0 in a final which was closer than the score suggests.
Duhan said: “It feels really good. I played better in the final than in the group stages and the last set was really good. I’ve beaten Charlotte 3-0 once before but I didn’t expect it because I’ve lost to her more than I’ve won.”
Stourbridge youngster Bardsley said: “It was a good final, the first two sets could have gone either way. I think I played really well on the day – I didn’t drop any sets until the final.”
Adding a bit of stardust to the day was five-time National champion and Commonwealth bronze medallist Kelly Sibley, who presented some of the trophies.
A total of 338 players took part in the event at Tipton Sports Academy.
Results
Under-11 Boys
Semi-finals
Amirul Hussain bt Naphong Boonyaprapa 3-0 (6, 11, 2)
Joshua Weatherby bt Jamie Liu 3-1 (9, 5, -10, 9)
Final
Hussain bt Weatherby 3-0 (8, 7, 8)
Under-11 Girls
Semi-finals
Ruby Chan bt Alana Mansfield 3-1 (5, -7, 7, 0)
Scarlett O’Neil bt Sophie Chiang 3-0 (9, 8, 6)
Final
Chan bt O’Neil 3-0 (7, 7, 7)
Under-13 Boys
Semi-finals
Ethan Walsh bt Zaiim Premji 3-1 (9, 7, -8, 7)
Louis Moyes bt Sam Chesterman 3-2 (-6, -9, 6, 8, 9)
Final
Walsh bt Moyes 3-0 (8, 2, 8)
Under-13 Girls
Semi-finals
Charlotte Bardsley bt Mollie Patterson 3-0 (5, 5, 6)
Gauri Duhan bt Katie Holt 3-1 (7, -8, 7, 7)
Final
Duhan bt Bardsley 3-0 (9, 10, 3)
Under-16 Boys
Semi-fnals
Luke Savill bt James Hobson 3-2 (6, -7, 2, -4, 7)
Alec Ward bt Alex Ramsden 3-1 (6, -9, 3, 10)
Final
Savill bt Ward 3-2 (-6, -4, 3, 10, 9)
Under-16 Girls
Semi-finals
Charlotte Boston bt Sarah Menghistab 3-1 (-10, 6, 13, 7)
Letitia McMullan bt Kate Cheer 3-0 (4, 10, 6)
Final
McMullan bt Boston 3-0 (7, 2, 8)
Under-19 Boys
Semi-finals
Tom Jarvis beat James Smith 3-0 (5, 8, 8)
Martin Matuzevicius bt Billy Forster 3-2 (-5, 4, 10, -5, 10)
Final
Jarvis bt Matuzevicius 3-0 (3, 4, 5)
Under-19 Girls
Semi-finals
Eva Wang bt Denise Payet 3-0 (8, 5, 8)
Lois Peake bt Emily Bolton 3-1 (6, -7, 8, 10)
Final
Wang bt Peake 3-0 (6, 4, 3)
Paul Stimpson
April 25, 2015