Newcomers and talent on show please Martel

AS ONE great tennis tournament ended in England at the weekend, so did another in Guernsey. Mini Wimbledon, a competition inspired by the grass court major, held its finals on Saturday at St Martin's Tennis Club where, over two weeks, 105 competitors were whittled down to a handful of winners. The competition had five age groups from under eights to an under-18 open and a doubles tournament.

The organiser, Geoff Martel, said that there had been many positives from the event.

'There were a lot of newcomers to the game, especially boys from St Sampson's School,' he said.

'Even though the majority were from St Martin's Tennis Club, it was good to see others coming along. We have also seen some great talent from both the young boys and girls.

'It is especially good to see so many young girls as not many compete once they get older.'

The last event of the tournament and arguably the best was the open final between Oliver Shier and Todd Priaulx.

The match started with Shier taking the first set 6-2.

But not to be undone by that, Priaulx hit back to win the second on a tiebreak, 7-6.

The third set was just as close with Priaulx holding match point on several occasions.

Yet it was Shier's time to dig deep as he edged it 9-7 on the tiebreak to win the set 7-6 and the title.

One boy who narrowly missed out on that final was Harry Martel, but he took solace in taking the third spot after he beat Josh McClean in the third-and-fourth play-off.

The 13-year-old Grammar School student was competing in the open instead of the under-13 tournament.

He is in line to enter the national 'Road to Wimbledon' competition.

'I've been playing tennis for about three to four years now,' he said. 'This is my fourth time competing in Mini Wimbledon and in previous years I have won the under-13 competition.'

A couple of the outstanding girls in the competition were Jessica Rigby and Emily Mills.

Rigby won the under-11 competition by not dropping a single game and Mills won her under-eight final in straight sets although she did lose the under-nine final to Simone Blanchard.

Barnaby Wolf showed he is one for the future when he claimed the boys' under-eight crown.

In the under-nines, Theo Lepp took the honours while Tom Byrom won his first title by showing good control in the under-11 final against the hard-hitting and unorthodox Henry Le Page.

The girls' under-13 was won by Jody Rigby as Harry Stephens beat Jack Oldfield in the boys final at this age.

Undoubtedly one of the best matches to be seen was the senior doubles final in which Shier and Paul Cave came up against Gareth Grand and McClean.

With Cave, Shier was able to add to his success in the open by winning the doubles 6-2, 6-3.

Tony Creasey, the president of the club, was there to watch the doubles final and said the tournament had had a very good impact.

'From watching the older boys you can see there is an excellent standard.

'The younger players have also done very well and many who haven't already are joining the club.

'It's a great social sport which can be played both with family and competitively which this competition shows.'

The competition was rounded off with a meal and prize-giving at St Margaret's Lodge on Sunday evening, with all food being provided by the sponsors, Fletcher Sports.