SC Junior Players in recent Canterbury Tournament

In the recent April school holidays several junior players from South Canterbury took part in the Canterbury Tier 2 Tournament in Christchurch, supported by TSC Head Coach Kane Newland.  Players to travel were Jess Aldridge, Lucy and Kate Crawford, Arabella Acland, Sophie and Max Wilson, George McAleer and Josh Cameron.

Jess Aldridge in the Girls 10s played well in her first Canterbury tournament.  After losing to the third seed Emma Mason in the first round, Jess went on to win her next two matches to finish up in the final of the consolation where she narrowly lost in a 3rd set tie-breaker (5-3, 1-4, 5-7) to Chole McLeod.

Lucy Crawford and Arabella Acland lined up in the Girls 11s grade where Lucy was the 3rd seed and Arabella, 5th seed.  Lucy won her first 2 matches to then meet the number one seed Amelia McKeown in the semi-final where she went down 2 and 1.  Lucy then finished with a strong solid performance for 3rd place winning against Amelia Atkinson 5-3, 5-3.  Arabella had a good first round win 4-1,4-1, which lead her to meet Amelia McKeown in the second round, where she lost 4-2, 4-2.  Arabella had two further matches in which she played well to win and finish up 5th.  A good result in a draw size of 16.

Kate Crawford (6) played in the Girls 12s where she had a bye in the first round before meeting Ava Williann in the second.  Kate had a good win 6-1, 6-1 taking her through to the quarters where she lost 2 and 1 against Lize-Mari Beer.  Kate and Lucy teamed up the Girls 12s doubles with a first round win before bowing out in the semi-final in a 3rd set super tie-breaker.

Sophie Wilson competed in the Girls 14s which had 27 players in this grade.  Sophie met the 6th seed Emma Pennells from Darfield in the first round.  It was a tough match in which Sophie was beaten 6-1, 6-3.  Sophie moved into the consolation draw and had a good first round win 6-3, 6-1.  In the quarters she had to play off against her doubles partner Mandi Portegy’s from Cambridge.  Mandy proved the stronger player coming out on top 6-0, 6-1.  That match aside, Mandi and Sophie made it through to the consolation finals where they met the 3rd seeds Olivia Hiku and Christine Gilbert from Tasman.  Mandi and Sophie were to finish up runner-up after a good competitive match.

Little brother Max Wilson played in the Boys 11s in Group B in the round robin draw.  It was pleasing to see Max finish with a win in his final match of the tournament after some earlier losses.

The Boys 14s Draw was a classy field with 34 players from around New Zealand.  We had 2 players in this field, Josh Cameron and George McAleer.  The boys both had byes in the first round.  Josh seeded 16th met Thomas Hunter from Christchurch in the second round with a good win 6-2, 6-3.  A tough draw for Josh as he then came up against the number one seed, Liam Adams.  Josh gave it his all on court but it was Liam who took the win 6-1, 6-2.  This placed Josh in the R16 knock-out draw and in a very tense close match Josh narrowly lost to Patrick Wall from the North Island 5-7, 7-6(7), 10-8.

George had a strong showing in his first match against Sam Hodges, (11th seed from Auckland) gaining in confidence in the second set.  Sam was the eventual winner 6-2, 7-5.  George moved into the consolation draw where he won his next two matches including an upset win against Edwin Dargue 6-1, 7-5.  Unfortunately troubled by a shoulder injury George struggled with his serve in the semi-final against Nick Schneidman bowing out 6-2, 6-3.

All in all it was a good tournament for our players, giving them good match play against varied opposition.