City Junior Tournament, February 23rd, 2014
Warrender Under 18 Champion, Selby disposes of top seeds,
Chamdal unbeaten in singles, Ho and Maldonado take doubles crown
The City Junior Championships saw the younger brigade making their mark, with effervescent performances from Reece Chamdal and Josh Selby sweeping aside older opponents, and plenty of dogged determination from John Ho and Vicky Coll in particular. The Under 18 event was littered with casualties, as first top seed Lewis Sumner failed to appear at all and then Simon Price (1-3) and Jonah Stott (0-3) were surprisingly outplayed by Josh Selby. Lewis’s no-show opened up a path for Kavan Warrender, who just managed to capitalise, edging out the redoubtable Jamie Felton in a typical Jamie classic, 13-11, 17-15, 10-12, 15-13, and going on to beat Joe McKenna-Jones 3-0 to set up a final against Josh.
Sadly Josh’s effervescence drained out of him, as the day went on. While Reece continued to put all opponents to the sword, unbeaten in singles throughout the day, Josh got caught up in tough matches against a sparkling Vicky Coll in the Under 14 mixed semi-final and twice going to the limit against John Ho, winning 11-2 in the 5th in the Under 14s, then losing 12-14 in the 5th in the Under 16 event. All this took its toll and in the Under 18 Final the lights finally went out, as Josh saw a two game lead impressively overturned by Kavan Warrender. Reece also took a two game lead over Kavan in the Under 16 final, his 11-2, 11-1 a testament to the intensity he brings to the game; Kavan came back from the dead to take the 3rd and then pegged back a big Reece lead in the 4th, but Reece held on with tenacity and a steadier nerve than we have seen hitherto. Thus our two talented 12 year-olds ended the day in contrasting fortune, Reece full of brightness and resilience, and Josh crestfallen and exhausted, but still awarded the Docos trophy for the stand-out achievement of the day, eliminating the two top seeds in the Under 18 event.
In the Graded Singles, Harry Williamson reached the final for the second year running after a fine battle with Kiarash Shaddel, while Jack Smith had loads of energy and saved his best for the key matches. He easily defeated Harrison Maldonado, and then came back splendidly from 0-2 down in the final to leave Harry Williamson as runner-up again!
Previous champions bit the dust early in the Handicap Doubles with Stott/Price, Selby/Warrender and Felton/Audifferen falling at the first hurdle. Reece Chamdal, partnered by vital Vicky Coll, seemed to be running through the field, while Harrison Maldonado & John Ho enjoyed good handicaps, allowing for Harrison’s age and inexperience (just 11). They just prevailed over Ed Beccle and Pavel Galsworthy, and then held on to beat Reece and Vicky in the final over three close games. It was a good partnership, with Harrison quite studious and steady, not wasting points, and John opportunistic in launching his fine top-spin attack.
Karl Bushell and Janet Brown were on hand to provide manifold assistance in the running of the tournament. I hope that all the players enjoyed it – they were certainly helpful, patient and efficient in organising, umpiring and recording their own groups. It was, of course, the first City Junior Tournament without the guiding hand of Aubrey Hughes, whom we remembered at the start of the day and whose format of age groups, graded singles and handicap doubles we were trying our best to do justice to throughout the day.
RESULTS
Under 12s: 1st Reece Chamdal; 2nd Harrison Maldonado; 3rd Kiarash Shaddel
Under 14s:
Mixed Semi-Finals:
Reece Chamdal v Joe McKenna-Jones 3-0 (11-2, 11-6, 11-4)
Josh Selby v Vicky Coll 3-1 (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 13-11)
Final:
Reece Chamdal v Josh Selby 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6)
Under 16s:
Semi-Finals:
Kavan Warrender v Joe McKenna-Jones 3-1 (11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6)
Reece Chamdal v John Ho 3-1 (11-2, 11-4, 11-13, 11-5)
Final:
Reece Chamdal v Kavan Warrender 3-1 (11-2, 11-1, 8-11, 11-9)
Under 18s:
Semi-Finals:
Kavan Warrender v Joe McKenna-Jones 3-0 (14-12, 12-10, 11-7)
Josh Selby v Jonah Stott 3-0 (11-8, 14-12, 12-10)
Final:
Kavan Warrender v Josh Selby 3-2 (9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-3)
Graded Singles:
Semi-Finals:
Jack Smith v Harry Maldonado 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-5)
Harry Williamson v Kiarash Shaddel 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 11-8)
Final:
Jack Smith v Harry Williamson 3-2 (10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7)
Handicap Doubles:
Semi Finals:
Vicky Coll & Reece Chamdal v Joe McKenna-Jones/Matt Hughes 11, 18
John Ho & Harry Maldonado v Ed Beccle/Pavel Galsworthy 14, -18, 16
Final:
John Ho & Harry Maldonado v Vicky Coll & Reece Chamdal 16, -21, 16
Docos Best Performance Trophy: Josh Selby
John Birkin, Organiser/City Team Manager (February 25, 2014)