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Haverhill Tennis Club opened its doors for its annual Junior Open Championships for five days in August with 51 children taking part in nine different events.

The competition started with the youngest age group of eight and under on the Monday morning, eight children taking part from six different clubs.

Joshua Mumford (Lavenham) had three comfortable wins to qualify for the semi-final knockout stage and all the other boys had one win each in the round robin box.

Qualifying in second place on points difference was Isaac Chase from Samuel Fowle (Haverhill) by one point. Kieran Johnston-Bustos (Surrey) had a tougher time in qualifying from his group but still won the group with three wins.

The second group as well, had one win each with Ralph Holmes (Haverhill) qualifying through in second place on points difference. The semi-finals saw Joshua beat Ralph 10-0 and Kieran beat Isaac 10-3.

Isaac was thrilled with his bronze medal after beating Ralph 10-5 and Joshua Mumford who was third last year triumphed over Kieran 10-3 in the final to deservedly win the Red Event.

The Orange Event for the nines and under was already underway when the red event started thanks to volunteers Rachel Jeffs, Mike Billson, Tristram Walsh, Tom Marsh and Ross Tobin helping with umpiring the red event.

There were nine children competing in this age category and Rebecca Creevy (Essex), competing in her first event at Haverhill as the number one seed, qualified through to the semi-final after winning her group, with the bubbly Thomas Parrett (Haverhill) finishing in second place.

Keri Tobin (Haverhill) played really well in her group to finish in top spot with Luke Marsh (Haverhill) finishing second. Luke had a tough semi-final match against the higher-ranked Rebecca but played superbly well to win 7-5, 7-4.

In the second semi-final, which placed Haverhill players Keri and Thomas against each other, Keri won 7-5, 7-1. In the bronze match Rebecca beat Thomas 7-3, 5-7, 7-0.

The final, between Luke and Keri, was a pulsating match with some excellent shots from both players, Luke eventually won 7-2, 7-9, 7-2 to add to the Red Event he won at last year's open. This concluded the first day's play as the children were too tired to play the planned Orange Doubles event.

Tuesday saw the start of the Green Event for the tens and under as well as some matches in the 12 and under boys' event.

Haverhill players Thomas Parrett, Keri Tobin and Luke Marsh were again in action playing up an age group and Thomas won a very close match 5-4 (5) against Charlie Stephens.

Luke had another tight match against Green Two player Jasper Chase (Culford) winning 5-4 (3) in an enthralling game. Keri lost 4-1 to the vastly improved Alex Swarbrick (Newmarket).

In this knockout event Josephine Jarvis (national orange player) beat Felix Wigdahl 4-0 in his first tournament. In the semi-final Alex beat Thomas 4-0 and Josephine beat Luke 4-1.

The bronze match was won by Luke 4-2 against Thomas to finish off a good week for him. In the final Alex did extremely well to beat Josephine 5-4(5) in a challenging match. In the consolation event Keri beat Jasper 4-0 in the final.

In the 12s and under event Alfie Kennard (Linton) was number one seed and got off to a flying start beating Alexander Carter 6-0, 6-0, and then beat Freddie Holmes (Bury) 6-1, 6-3.

In the second group, number two seed Greg Birch (Haverhill) had two very close games against Andreas Kitsis (Haverhill) 6-3, 7-5 and against Jack Krempel 7-6, 6-4.

The first semi-final between Alfie and Jack went as the ratings would expect with Alfie winning 6-2, 6-0. The second semi was a different game with Freddie winning a very close match 6-3, 7-5 taking him into the final against Alfie on the Friday.

On the Wednesday, the U16 girls, one U16 boys game and the U14 boys singles started. Sam Howard (Haverhill), Leon Bailey (02 ball boy) and Jack Young (Haverhill) battled out some long games in the first round robin group in the U14s and Aaron Thorne(Haverhill), Cameron Larkin (Havehill), Rory Elston (Haverhill)and Stephen Boyles (Haverhill) had some long matches in the second group.

Sam lived up to his number one seed rating losing only four games on his way to the semi-final. Second in the group was Jack Young who just managed to beat Leon in the third set tie-break 10-8.

Cameron did brilliantly to beat Aaron in a very close match in three sets and then went on to win the group. Stephen did well to finish second in the group and then had the task of playing against Sam in the semi-final.

Sam proved to be too strong and beat Stephen 6-0, 6-2. In the second semi-final Cameron beat Jack 6-2, 6-1. In the bronze match Stephen just beat Jack 6-4, 6-4.

Christie Roberts (Haverhill) was welcomed back to competition for the first time in a couple of years and played Imogen Wigdahl in a match lasting over two hours with Imogen winning in 10-8 in the final set.

Shannon Tobin (Haverhill)and Nicole Pike (Haverhill), both playing in their first competition, also played for more than two hours with this match also going to a third set tie-break with Nicole winning 10-7.

The girls then played each other with Shannon, Nicole and Imogen winning two games each. Nicole was unlucky to miss out on a final place but on countback played the bronze match against Christie winning 6-2, 6-1.

Shannon played in the final against Imogen, whose sportsmanship was commented on by several parents - she played with a smile on her face winning or losing a game.

After a very close first set, Imogen won the final 6-4, 6-1. The boys 16 and under was a straight knockout event with a consolation draw for first round losers.

Oscar Newlands (Haverhill) beat Spencer Thurgood (Haverhill) 6-1, 6-1. On Thursday the U16 boys continued where James Lawerence (A&M) beat Joe Baker (Haverhill) 4-6, 6-1, 11-9 in a very close match, Harry Sendall (Haverhill) after a slow start beat Aaron Smith (Haverhill) 2-6, 6-4, 10-8 in another close game.

In the second round Tom Marsh (Haverhill) beat Oscar 6-0, 6-0, to move him into the semi-finals with the other first round matches. Tom beat James 6-0, 6-1 and Chris beat Harry 6-0, 6-0 moving both players into Friday’s final.

The U14 and U16 doubles games started with Sam Howard and Aaron Thorne beating Cameron Larkin and Daniel Marsh (making his competitive debut) 6-2, 6-2 and Stephen Boyles and Bailey Cassidy (also making his debut) beating Rory Elston and Leon Bailey 6-4, 6-0.

In the bronze medal game Rory and Leon won a tight match in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 10-7. The U16 boys doubles started with brothers partnership Sam and Jack Howard beating Harry Sendall and Oscar Newlands 6-1, 6-2.

In the other semi-final after a slow start Aaron Smith and Tom Marsh beat Christopher Lambert and Chris Lawrence 2-6, 6-0, 10-6. In the bronze medal match Chris and James beat Harry and Oscar 6-2, 6-2.

Finals day on Friday was a busy day for Sam Howard who played in three finals, one singles and two doubles. First on in the morning though was Joe Baker against Chris Sheehan in the U16 consolation event which Chris won 6-2, 6-3.

Sam started his first final against Cameron Larkin and Cameron played a great match but Sam proved to be too strong for him winning 6-3, 6-0.

In the 12s and under bronze game Jack reversed the group match beating Greg 6-3, 6-3. In the final Freddie put up a great fight but Alfie was too strong for him winning 6-1, 6-0. This is the second year in a row that Freddie has made the final.

The U14s boys doubles final between Stephen Boyles/Bailey Cassidy and Aaron Thorne/Sam Howard was an enjoyable match to watch and the number ones seeds Aaron and Sam won 6-3, 6-3.

In the boys U16 singles final Tom Marsh proved to be too consistent for Christopher Lambert who hit some great winners but Tom’s consistent play saw him add to his previous successes at Haverhill winning 6-1, 6-2.

The U16s boys doubles final between brothers Sam and Jack Howard and Aaron Smith/Tom Marsh was a very close match with Tom and Aaron just edging the first set 7-5 and then going on to win the second set 6-3.

So it was an amazing week of tennis concluded with some great moments which it is hoped will encourage more people to dust off their tennis rackets and come and play at Haverhill.

For more information about the club visit www.haverhilltennisclub.co.uk