Six different regions had cause for celebration as the six team events were played to a thrilling finish at the Inter-Regional Finals today.
North West, South East, South West, East, East Midlands and West Midlands all won gold in Kettering as the finals were held in boys’ and girls’ competitions at Under-11, Under-13 and Cadet age groups.
Click here to view pictures from the event on our Flickr page.
First to finish was the Under-13 Girls’ final, in which East’s line-up of Alana Mansfield and Samadhi Udamulla enjoyed a 3-0 win over South West’s Holly Smithson and Angharad Beman, dropping only one game on the way.
Mansfield said:
I’m really happy, I think we did really well together. We had good teamwork, and talking to each other was very important, and we had good coaching from Mark Dare.
Udamulla added:
I feel happy, I didn’t expect to win because we were up against tough teams. We were good as a team and communicated well in the doubles.
Next to taste victory were East Midlands Under-11 boys, whose squad of Joseph Cooper and Cameron Driver overcame London (Ryan Tailor and Francesco Bonato) 3-1, with Cooper sealing victory by coming from 2-0 down to defeat Bonato in a fifth-game decider.
East Midlands had a chance to make it an Under-11 double but were defeated 3-1 by West Midlands in their final.
For the victors, Jyothi Ghanta won her two singles and joined with Daya Chima to take the doubles. The runners-up were represented by Constance Dumelow, Roma Morjaria and Freya Wynne.
Ten-year-old Chima, from Coventry, said:
We hadn’t played together before but we were a good team and I hope we can play again some time.
Ghanta, aged 10 and from Wolverhampton, said:
It’s good to win, and exciting. Daya had a good fast serve and she was really determined.
East Midlands were also the runners-up in the Cadet Girls, where their duo of Erin Green and Helena Dicken were defeated by Scarlett O’Neil and Lois Perryman. O’Neil set the standard by overturning a 2-0 deficit against Dicken in the first match to win in a deciding set.
In the Cadet Boys’ final, North West triumphed 3-1 against South West. The winning squad was Harry Watson, Ben McDonald, Rhys Davies and James Courtney, while South West were represented by Jamie Blair and Edan Regan. It was Davies who sealed it with a 3-2 win over Blair, coming from 2-1 down.
Davies said:
I didn’t want to bottle it and lose it for the team. It felt good to have the team behind me and I’m really happy we won.
The only final to go the distance was the Under-13 Boys, between South West and North West, the former winning it 3-2 after twice seeing their opponents level.
The opening match went to a decider, with Bertie Kelly of South West taking that 13-11 against Toby Ellis. Olly Cornish was Kelly’s team-mate and together they won the doubles against Ben Strapps & Tom Hurst, and it was Kelly who settled it in the final match, defeating Liam Bibby.
Cornish said:
We played very well in the doubles. I lost my two matches but thankfully Bertie won and I’m happy to win the gold – I couldn’t have done it without him.
Kelly added:
It was very tough and I was very nervous in the last match but in the end I managed to win. I couldn’t have done it without Olly either.
Attention now turns to the individual competitions.
Final results
Cadet Boys
North West 3 South West 1
Harry Watson bt Jamie Blair 3-0 (12-10, 12-10, 11-8)
Edan Regan bt Rhys Davies 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5)
Watson & Ben McDonald bt Blair & Regan 3-1 (11-8, 13-11, 11-13, 11-4)
Davies bt Blair 3-2 (6-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4)
Final standings: 1 North West, 2 South West, 3 East Midlands, 4 West Midlands, 5 South East, 6 Southern, 7 Yorkshire, 8 East, 9 North East, 10 London.
Cadet Girls
South East 3 East Midlands 1
Scarlett O’Neil bt Helena Dicken 3-2 (7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4)
Erin Green bt Lois Perryman 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 12-10)
O’Neil & Perryman bt Green & Dicken 3-1 (6-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7)
Perryman bt Dicken 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9)
Final standings: 1 South East, 2 East Midlands, 3 South West, 4 North West, 5 East, 6 North East, 7 London, 8 West Midlands, 9 Yorkshire
Under-13 Boys
South West 3 North West 2
Bertie Kelly bt Toby Ellis 3-2 (6-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4, 13-11)
Liam Bibby bt Oliver Cornish 3-1 (5-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9)
Kelly & Cornish bt Ben Strapps & Tom Hurst 3-0 (12-10, 11-2, 11-7)
Ellis bt Cornish 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-7)
Kelly bt Bibby 3-1 (11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7)
Final standings: 1 South West, 2 North West, 3 East Midlands, 4 East, 5 Southern, 6 London, 7 Yorkshire, 8 South East, 9 West Midlands, 10 North East.
Under-13 Girls
East 3 South West 0
Alana Mansfield bt Holly Smithson 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 12-10)
Samadhi Udamulla bt Angharad Beman 3-1 (11-3, 11-5, 5-11, 11-9)
Mansfield & Udamulla bt Smithson & Beman 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-8)
Final standings: 1 East, 2 South West, 3 West Midlands, 4 Yorkshire, 5 North West, 6 Southern, 7 North East, 8 South East.
Under-11 Boys
East Midlands 3 London 1
Joseph Cooper bt Ryan Tailor 3-1 (11-7, 12-14, 11-6, 14-12)
Francesco Bonato bt Cameron Driver 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-9)
Cooper & Driver bt Tailor & Bonato 3-2 (11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 5-11, 13-11)
Cooper bt Bonato 3-2 (11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 11-4)
Final standings: 1 East Midlands, 2 London, 3 South East, 4 North West, 5 East, 6 South West, 7 Yorkshire, 8 Southern, 9 West Midlands, 10 North East.
Under-11 Girls
West Midlands 3 East Midlands 1
Jyothi Ghanta bt Constance Dumelow 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 15-13)
Roma Morjaria bt Daya Chima 3-1 (11-5, 11-3, 10-12, 11-2)
Ghanta & Chima bt Dumelow & Morjaria 3-2 (11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-13, 11-5)
Ghanta bt Morjaria 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-3)
Final standings: 1 West Midlands, 2 East Midlands, 3 South West, 4 East, 5 North East, 6 North West, 7 Yorkshire, 8 South East.