Junior Competition

A nice start to juniors comp with some good rallies across the divisions. There are three school excursions on this week so quite a few juniors away. Lets hope everyone has been responsible enough to let their opponents know and reschedule today’s matches, fingers crossed.

Great to see the players using the scorekeepers which should solve any conflict with the games count. Another reminder that when the whistle blows you can finish the point you are playing. If neither player reached ‘game’ then that final game doesn’t count. If both players sign the scorecard they agree on the score. If anyone has a query with the score that was written in, please see Helen immediately.

Some results from Round 1 as follows-

Red Aces Division: Katie Forbes and Sienna Hunt had a beaut start to their term three competition with Katie just scoring a close 5/4 win.

Jordan Mann played her first comp match and did really well. Jordy will get the hang of the scoring and positioning with the help of Maddy courtside each week. Charlotte Wilson was Jordan’s opponent last week and Charlotte is a consistent performer. The scoreboard showed 7/2 but the match was much closer.

Orange Federers Division: Patrick McPherson was off to a flyer when he took on Ruby Coote. PJ had his serve working well and scored a 4/2 win.

Well done Jack Greenland on his first comp experience. Jack played Issy Lennox and they had a beaut match with lots of rallies. The score finished in a two all draw. Draws all round when Mitchell Boggs and Phoebe Forbes played as their scoreline was three all.

Red Hewitts Division: Anna Davis moved up to the Red half court division and she and Knox Lamont had a good match with lots of deuces. Knox was a little rusty with his serving but will no doubt get it going in the coming weeks. Anna won their match 2/0.

Declan Quade took on Elena Glastonbury and they had a competitive match under Abbey’s guidance. Dec went on to score a close 3/2 win.

Orange Nadals Division: Jacques vanWyk was concentrating hard as he took on Riley Jones. Jacques is working on his grip and he is doing really well. The score finished 3/1 in Jacques favour with Molly watching on.

Tarlei Glastonbury will need a handicap if she continues this amazing early term form. Tarlei played Liliani Latu and it was Liliani’s first comp match. She was a little nervous and will no doubt settle in to comp this afternoon. Nia was looking after Kelsey Mann and Mitch Wirth and reported back that they had a ripper match which finished in a two all draw. Well done both players!

Green Smashes Division: Siblings Patrick and Victoria Simpson played last week and good to get that sibling rivalry match out of the way. It was a 5/2 win to Pat.

Poppy Fisher has moved up to the Green ball division this term and she took on Coen Glastonbury who is gaining in confidence every week. They had some good rallies and the 7/0 scoreline in Coen’s favour wasn’t a true indication of the match as can sometimes be the case in tennis with deuces in five games.

Green Volleys Division: Anabelle vanWyk scored a 4/3 win over Sam Rivett. These two always have a good match and this one was just the same with both players fighting hard. Lucy Hall and Tim Nyugen are both enjoying being back at tennis this term.  Lucy took advantage of Tim being a little rusty and she scored a 3/2 win.

Max Coote and Ruby Wilson took to the court and it was Ruby who just out rallied Max by 3/2. Hayden Arndell and Ella McColl had a good match with the score finishing three all.

Singles and Doubles Division: Great to see Charlie Strudwick back to comp tennis. Charlie is teaming with Cody Morgan this term and they were happy when they scored a two sets to one win over Xander Macgregor and Lachie Unger. Lachie is improving every week and loving his tennis. He scored a beaut 6/3 win over Cody in their singles.

Defending Champs Nia Boggs and Mitchell Arndell scored a hard fought two sets to one win over Ethan Hunt and Nick Gascoigne. Ethan scored an impressive 6/3 win over Nia in their singles while Mitch turned the tables on Nick 6/3. Nia and Mitch won the doubles with the same scoreline.

The dynamic duo of Marcus Moss and Mitchell Unger reported that they were unstoppable last week when they took on new combo Faith Clarke and Tia Dunn. Faith and Tia will be tested this term but the experience they will gain from playing together and playing tough opponents augers well for school tennis in 2019. The boys scored a three set win.

Handicap Division: Six of the more experienced juniors who are keen to continue with match play this term entered the handicap division where Helen has put the number of games start for each singles match to give these players a different mindset each week and learn about starting well, focusing and most of all valuing every point.

Abbey Kennedy had to give Joseph Tanswell three games head start and she got off to a flyer but as soon as it got to three all she took the pedal off the metal and let Joseph get into some rhythm. He won the next two games then Abbey fought back again to take the set to a tiebreaker in which Joe won. Maddy McCormick was behind by four games against Molly Kennedy and it was Molly who came out determined. Molly worked really hard as she knew she only had to win two games while Maddy was tentative trying not to make errors rather than be confident and go for her shots. Molly won 6/1.

In the final singles match Gabe Goodrick was behind by 3 taking on Koby Wirth. This was a good match with both players working hard to get the ascendency. Gabe steadied his play and knew he had to be more consistent and force Koby into errors. This he did and went onto win 6/4.

Abbey and Joe then teamed up to defeat Gabe and Koby and Molly and Maddy 6/0 and 6/4. Gabe and Koby beat Molly and Maddy 6/2. All six players said how much they actually enjoyed the handicap and how it made them think differently about their singles set. New partners tonight so we’ll see how they go.

JDS Tournament and Training: Last Saturday saw Parkes hosting a training afternoon for a combined group from Nepean District Tennis Association, Far West Tennis Academy and Parkes Juniors. It was great to see them all mingling and working together in the team exercises, drills, and points play. A Cardio Tennis session followed for an enthusiastic group of parents. It was then off to our sponsors Parkes Services Club for dinner and socialising.

Sunday saw the JDS Tournament where 62 players from throughout Central West participated. Parkes players included Hayden Arndell who enjoyed his first try at tournament tennis in the 10s boys division while older brother Mitchell had a great day out making the playoffs in the 12s. Nick Gascoigne and Ethan Hunt both had tough days but worth the effort for all the experience of playing against different players in preparation for NSW school tennis next week. Gabe Goodrick did a super job as he was unwell and desperately wanted to play in his home event. Gabe made the playoffs and didn’t have any energy left and had to forfeit the playoffs in the 12s.

Joseph Tanswell and Koby Wirth were Parkes reps in the 14s and both played well during the day. Joe finished runner-up after a three way tie and Koby finished fourth. Ben Evans was too good for all comers in the 16s seemingly in cruise control most of the day. Lachy Tassell was all smiles winning the 18s defeating Harry Dawson in a closely contested final.

Poppy Fisher was playing in her very first tournament and had a great day in the 10s as did Ella McColl.  Anabelle van Wyk learned a lot about playing tough matches and improved in every match she played in the 12s while Faith Clarke was doing her best to compete with the more experienced players. Lily McCormick looked to be determined at the start of the day and she finished first in her pool to progress to the playoffs. Lily played some smart tennis in the semi to score a win and then couldn’t quite maintain her form and ‘spark’ in the final going down in 2 tiebreak sets.

Maddy McCormick was dominant in the 14s with Molly Kennedy finishing runner-up. Nia Boggs played well to finish third. Nice to see Hannah and Phoebe Potts playing their first event for 2018 and as expected were too good for their opponents on the day. Abbey Kennedy stepped out of the 14s to challenge herself in the 16s/18s combined event but has a way to go yet to overcome the on court strategy and game smarts of the twins. Abbey will be better for the experience though for sure. It was Hannah who defeated Phoebe in a tiebreaker to score the iTunes Voucher.