CI age-group titles for four young Sarnians

FOUR Guernsey juniors have been crowned Channel Islands champions of their respective age group. Alice Loveridge was the youngest Sarnian winner. She triumphed in the under-10 girls' competition.

Millfield-bound Rob West won the under-18 boys' event and there was double Guernsey success in the under-12 section with Nick Thibeault and Olivia Cooney claiming the honours.

The under-10 and under-12 competitions were played in Jersey; the under-14 and under-18 sections took place at the Guernsey Tennis Centre.

There were 90 matches over the weekend, several of which went into three sets.

Cooney underlined her terrific potential and fast-improving game with a convincing win over her Sarnian colleague, Francesca Mcluskey. Guernsey claimed the first three places in the age group when Isabel Wray defeated Nicole Dubras in the third and fourth-place play-off.

Loveridge breezed to victory in the youngest girls' section, although her final against Jersey's Allysia Johnson was the closest match of the day with Loveridge winning in three sets.

Oliver Hein, of Alderney, produced a shock in reaching the final of the under-14 boys' section. Although his defeat there against Jersey's James Connelly was a somewhat one-sided affair, Hein's progress marked an important step forward in the development of Ridunian tennis.

Charlotte Koller, Guernsey's representative in the under-18 girls' final, would have been disappointed not to get closer to beating Jersey's Abigail Hazley. The final was a one-sided affair in marked contrast to previous competitive games between the two.

Meanwhile, the pick of the matches in the first week of the Guernsey Island Closed Tournament was a two-and-a-quarter-hour battle between Chantelle de la Mare and Stephanie Connelly.

De la Mare won the women's singles semi-final 7-5 in the third set.

Several seeds have been knocked out of the mixed doubles already, among them Richard Battey and Helen Creasey and Chris Hickling and Madonna McNichol.

Sue de Garis was the most notable spoiler in the various mixed doubles' age groups: she teamed up with Nigel Le Page to knock out Battey and Creasey, and with Quinton Rose to end the hopes of Hickling and McNichol.

The finals will be played tomorrow at the Guernsey Tennis Centre.