South West and North West were the most successful teams on the first day of the Inter-Regional Finals at RAF Cosford.
South West won the only final to be played on day one – the Under-11 Girls – and also reached three more finals, while North West got through to three finals.
South East, Yorkshire, Southern and East Midlands will also have representation in tomorrow morning’s finals. The positional play-offs also take place on Sunday morning.
Around 150 youngsters in three age groups and both genders gave it their all on a busy day of competition which saw more than 400 individual singles and doubles matches.
All photos by Michael Loveder – click here to view more on our Flickr page
Cadet Boys
North West won a close tussle with South East to win Group 1 and take their place in the final.
The sides met in the final round of matches having notched three victories apiece, and it was a tense affair.
Fraser Kent put the southerners in front by defeating Ben McDonald in four, but the northern team then went 2-1 ahead thanks to Liam Bibby’s win over Owen Brown and McDonald & James Courtney taking the doubles, both in four.
Kent’s second win, again in four over Bibby, tied it up but McDonald won the deciding tie against Brown 2, 6, 7 to put his side into the final.
Group 2 was made up of four teams as London scratched, and it was Yorkshire who came through to the final, in no small part thanks to the form of Che Goulbourne. He who won all four singles matches in key 3-2 victories over West Midlands and closest rivals South West. He also teamed up with Nicholas Miller to take the doubles in both ties.
Cadet Girls
South West’s squad of Gemma Kerr, Angharad Beman and Mari Baldwin made it through to the final with three perfect 5-0 victories against East Midlands, North East and East in the group of four.
They only conceded six sets along the way, three of them to East region’s Samadhi Udamulla, who took Kerr to four and Baldwin to five.
The other group featured three regions and the crucial match proved to be the first as South East shaded West Midlands 3-2, with Scarlett O’Neil winning her two singles and taking the doubles with Jodie Morris. Both regions went on to beat North West.
So South West and South East will contest Sunday morning’s final.
Under-13 Boys
Southern carried all before them in Group 1, the squad of Felix Thomis, Todd Stanmore and Jack Smith earning 5-0 victories in all four matches, including against closest rivals London.
Also in Group 1, East Midlands came from 2-0 down to beat West Midlands in a match with four different singles winners. The fourth tie was the key as EM’s Michael Spence-Durrant edged out Eduardo Bolanos 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10) to make it 2-2.
Group 2 saw a three-way tussle emerge between South West, North West and Yorkshire.
South West met North West in the final round, knowing that victory would force a three-way countback between the regions. They led 2-1 after winning a marathon doubles, but North West took the remaining singles as Adam Dennison beat Benjamin Greve in four and Toby Ellis put in a superb display to overcome Bertie Kelly, also in four.
Earlier, Yorkshire beat South West in the deciding fifth rubber as Ehsan Jawadi overcame Greve 3-2 (11-3, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 11-6).
Under-13 Girls
North West’s Niamh Scarborough won the decisive fifth match against West Midlands to put her side into the final against South West.
With both teams on three wins each and locked at 2-2 in their final-round clash, Scarborough tipped the balance with a four-game win over Eleanor Fletcher, making Megan Jones’ double for West Midlands in vain.
In Group 2, four regions locked horns and it was South West who came out on top, edging South East into second. The South West won 3-2 when the top two met and the second tie in that clash proved to be pivotal as Erin Richards defeated Abbie Hurley 3-2 (11-6, 10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10). That put South West 2-0 up and, although South East won the doubles, Lauren Loosemore sealed overall victory by defeating Hurley.
Under-11 Girls
Three teams in each group in this competition and South East and London both defeated North West in Group 1 and met to decide who would go on to the final.
It was a thrilling match as London twice levelled the score through Sienna Jetha after Emily Cheung had won the match’s first tie and teamed up with Caron Charles to take the doubles.
So it came down to Charles versus Eleanor Turner-Samuels to decide it, and it went the distance before South East’s Charles finally clinched a 3-2 (8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8) victory.
In the other group, South West enjoyed more convincing margins – 5-0 over Yorkshire and 4-1 over East.
And it was South West who continued that form in the final, winning it 3-1. Chloe Kay put them in front by defeating Emily Cheung 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-6) and Gypsie Kay backed that up with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-5) victory over Caron Charles.
Charles & Cheung kept South East in the fight by taking the doubles 3-0 (2, 6, 8) against Gypsie Kay & Jennylee Colling, but Gypsie came from a set down to Cheung to notch the decisive point with a 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7) win.
East beat London 3-2 to claim third place, while Yorkshire’ 3-1 win over North West saw them take fifth.
Under-11 Boys
East Midlands’ duo of Joseph Cooper and Cameron Driver were too strong for the rest of Group 1.
With Fred Jones and James Millward also in the squad, they took two 5-0 wins and two by a 4-1 margin, including the all-important match against North West in the final round, both regions having remained unbeaten to that point.
The key clash in four-team Group 2 – Southern having pulled out – was Yorkshire versus South West, who had two victories apiece going into their meeting.
Yorkshire took the lead through Lennon Maughan-Staves, but two singles wins for Jakub Piwowar, either side of him winning the doubles alongside Charlie Dolton, gave South West an unassailable 3-1 lead. It finished 3-2.
Comebacks
The following matches saw players fight back from 2-0 down to win 3-2:
U13G: Lucy Bridle (EM) bt Isabelle Crooks (Y) (6-11, 2-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9)
U11G: Jessica Morris (NW) bt Emily Cheung (SE) (5-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7)
CB: Olly Cornish (SW) bt Nicholas Miller (Y) (10-12, 6-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-8)
U13B: Tom Yarrow (WM) bt Michael Spence-Durrant (EM) (7-11, 14-16, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9)
CB: Jaden Aulakh (E) bt Owen Brown (SE) (8-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8)
U13G: Niamh Scarborough & Ruby Bennett (NW) bt Megan Jones & Eleanor Fletcher (WM) (8-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-3, 11-4)
Results
Cadet Boys
Group 1: North West 5 East Midlands 0, East 5 Southern 0, South East 5 East Midlands 0, North West 5 Southern 0, South East 5 Southern 0, North West 3 East 2, Southern 3 East Midlands 2, South East 4 East 1, North West 3 South East 2, East 5 East Midlands 0
Group 2: Yorkshire 5 North East 0, South West 3 West Midlands 2, West Midlands 5 North East 0, Yorkshire 3 South West 2, Yorkshire 3 West Midlands 2, South West 5 North East 0
Cadet Girls
Group 1: South West 5 East 0, East Midlands 4 North East 1, South West 5 North East 0, East Midlands 4 East 1, East 3 North East 2, South West 5 East Midlands 0
Group 2: South East 3 West Midlands 2, West Midlands 4 North West 1, South East 5 North West 0
3rd/4th play-off: West Midlands 3 East Midlands 0
5th/6th play-off: East 3 North West 1
Under-13 Boys
Group 1: South East 5 East Midlands 0, London 5 West Midlands 0, Southern 5 East Midlands 0, South East 5 West Midlands 0, Southern 5 West Midlands 0, London 4 South East 1, East Midlands 3 West Midlands 2, South 5 South East 0, London 4 East Midlands 1
Group 2: North West 5 North East 0, Yorkshire 4 East 1, South West 5 North East 0, North West 5 East 0, North West 3 Yorkshire 2, South West 5 East 0, East 5 North East 0, Yorkshire 3 South West 2, North West 3 South West 2, Yorkshire 5 North East 0
Under-13 Girls
Group 1: Yorkshire 4 East Midlands 1, North West 3 North East 2, West Midlands 3 North East 2, North West 5 East Midlands 0, West Midlands 4 East Midlands 1, North West 3 Yorkshire 2, West Midlands 3 Yorkshire 2, East Midlands 3 North East 2, North West 3 West Midlands 2, Yorkshire 4 North East 1
Group 2: South West 5 Southern 0, South East 3 East 2, South West 3 South East 2, East 5 Southern 0, South West 5 East 0, South East 5 Southern 0
Under-11 Boys
Group 1: London 3 West Midlands 2, North West 5 North East 0, North West 5 West Midlands 0, East Midlands 5 North East 0, East Midlands 5 West Midlands 0, North West 4 London 1, East Midlands 4 London 1, West Midlands 3 North East 2, East Midlands 4 North West 1, London 3 North East 2
Group 2: East 5 South East 0, Yorkshire 4 East 1, South West 5 South East 0, Yorkshire 5 South East 0, South West 5 East 0, South West 3 Yorkshire 2
Under-11 Girls
Group 1: London 4 North West 1, South East 3 North West 2, South East 3 London 2
Group 2: East 3 Yorkshire 2, South West 5 Yorkshire 0, South West 4 East 1
Final: South West 3 South East 1
3rd/4th play-off: East 3 London 2
5th/6th play-off: Yorkshire 3 North West 1