The annual Junior Christmas tennis tournament, organised by coach Chris Friend, took place at John Kyrle High School, Ross-on-Wye, on Saturday, December 28th. The well supported free event was played in two categories, with eight competitors playing on the four indoor mini tennis courts and the remaining ten players on the outdoor courts. With the sun shining and all eager to run off the turkey, the players were split into two round-robin groups with everyone playing each other. In the first group, Nikolai dispatched all of his opponents without dropping a game whilst Dylan just secured the runners-up spot edging out Edward. The other group also had a clear winner, Jack, who conceded just one game against Harry. After finishing second in the group, Harry also progressed through to the semi-finals. With a good crowd watching, both matches were very entertaining with determined youngster Harry pushing Nikolai but conceding 4-2. Jack, meanwhile, held his nerve and fought off Dylan with a 4-0 win. In the final, experienced Nikolai proved too strong for Jack winning a hard-fought competitive match.

The other players competing included Sam, Alisdair, Ben H, Ben R, William and Edward who were a pleasure to watch as they too put into practice the shots and match-play they have learned in their regular coaching sessions at the school.

The indoor tennis was a great success with all the youngsters playing eight ‘first to ten point’ matches. Kira was the overall winner, remarkably remaining unbeaten, and Hao coming second having only started playing tennis in 2019. Also competing were, Yan Yan, Mattie, Oliver, Ebony, James and Tyler. All these players are involved in weekly coaching sessions with Chris at the High School. Chris also coaches at several Primary Schools where these players were initially introduced to the sport. All players received prizes and enjoyed the refreshments kindly organised by Carol. If you would like to know more about junior or adult tennis, visit www.chrisfriendtenniscoaching.co.uk.