Young aces spar for top prizes at Lisburn Racquets Club

This entry is below normal due mainly to the almost complete absence of young ladies at all age levels.

At Under-9 the Boys Singles final was a classic match with 7-year old Mackenzie Connor just pipping 6-year old Matthew Cheung by two points in the third set. The two boys paired up to win the doubles from Ewan Patterson and Michael Collim. Anna Monteith and Chloe Woods were the only girls and Chloe took the singles final and the mixed doubles final also when she and Matthew Cheung beat Ewan Patterson and Anna Monteith.

Ewan’s brother Oliver took the Under-11 singles in a close three setter with Cameron Watson. Cameron had some consolation when he and Conor Galway came out on top of a three setter with Josh Armstrong and Conor Smyth. Sarah Cherry dominated the girls events taking the singles from her doubles partner Rebecca Wallace and the doubles from Laura McCullough and Alex Hewitt. Rebecca contested her third final when she and Josh Armstrong won after a close struggle with Zak Nixon and Laura McCullough.

Matthew Prentice was the pre-match favourite for the Under-13 title. He duly won but not until he overcame a determined Ruariri Compton in a long 3-setter. Rachel Barnes took two titles, beating her doubles partner Rachael Mason in the singles and the pair overcame Lisa Collim and Beth Stephenson in the doubles. Niall Armstrong also did the double. With his 9-year old brother Josh he took the doubles from the Donegal pair Kristin Warke and Aaron Knox. He the paired up with Beth Stephenson to deny Rachel Barnes her third title with a narrow victory over Rachel and Conor Monteith.

In the Under-15 age group Sam Joshi took all three girls titles. In the singles she beat Amy Allen of Bangor comfortably and, with Katie McKibben, beat Amy Allen and Ashleigh Gillanders in the doubles. Calum Portis was her partner in the mixed which just got home over the Bangor pair Matthew Moorehead and Amy Allen. Matthew had a better result in the boys doubles when he and Jon McCreedy beat Andrew Murphy and Elliott Lonsdale. Elliott had a better result in the singles with a close win over Calum Portis.

In the Under-17 events there were too few girls and only the boy’s events were held. In these Chin Nam Soong dominated winning both the singles and doubles although with more difficulty than was expected. George Doran did very well to take Chin Nam to three in the singles after surviving a three way tie to get to the final. Curtis Presho and Chin Nam beat Calum Portis and Niall Armstrong in the doubles, an excellent performance for this pair to get there since Niall is only 12 years old.

Brian Chambers, the Alpha Chairman, thanked SPAR for their continuing support of this event, now completing 48 years, and also all the competitors for entering especially those from Coleraine and Donegal.