Maliha Baig and Larry Trumpauskas took gold in the Cadet singles events at the Mark Bates Ltd Cadet, U17 and Junior National Championships.
Baig defeated Sienna Jetha to win the girls’ final, with bronzes going to Jonabel Taguibao and Connie Dumelow.
Trumpauskas saw off Ralph Pattison in the boys’ event, with bronzes for Ollie Maric-Murray and Yiannis Kazantzidis.
In the doubles, Jetha & Naomi Coker won the girls’ trophy by defeating Dumelow & Kate Watkinson, while the boys’ gold was won by Jakub Piwowar & Maric-Murray, defeating Trumpauskas & Kazantzidis.
All photos by Michael Loveder – click here to see more on our Flickr page.
For all the tournament results, click here.
Cadet Girls’ Singles
Second seed Maliha Baig emerged victorious as she and top seed Sienna Jetha fought out a five-game final.
Twice Baig led but was pegged back, but she eventually took the title 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-2).
In the semi-finals, Jetha got the better of Jonabel Taguibao 3-0 (11-4, 16-14, 11-2), while Baig defeated Connie Dumelow 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-3).
The quarter-finals had seen Jetha drop the first game to Rachael Iles, but she came back to win in four (8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5), while it was four games also for Dumelow against Tilly Simms (11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9).
Taguibao got past Mabel Shute 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-6), and it was three for Baig against Ella Pashley (4, 5, 10).
There were three high-quality matches in the first round, all decided at deuce, or close, in the fifth. Pride of place arguably went to Shute, who defeated the defending champion, Bethany Ellis, by winning the last two games by 12-10 scorelines.
Fourth seed Dumelow had to battle past Mia Longman and finally got over the line 3-2 (11-2, 9-11, 15-13, 5-11, 11-9), while Taguibao defeated seventh seed Naomi Coker 13-11 in the fifth.
Group stage
Eva Eccles won all three matches in Group 8 from the second position in the rankings, including a 3-2 (5-11, 13-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7) victory over top seed, Mabel Shute.
Shute won her other two matches to make it through in second place, while Mauli Shah beat higher-ranked Caron Charles to claim third place.
Group 4 needed a bit of unpicking. Connie Dumelow won all three matches to top the group as per ranking, but the other three players won one apiece.
The countback revealed fourth-ranked Sharon Bimbi had done enough – ironically it was her defeat to Brooke Morris which effectively saved her as she went down 3-2 (5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9), those two games proving crucial as she followed up with a 3-0 win over Georgina Hunter, who herself beat Morris in four.
Mia Longman got through to the knockouts from No 3 in Group 1, beating second-ranked Kate Watkinson 3-1 (11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10) in the crucial match to advance alongside group winner and dominant top seed, Sienna Jetha.
Tilly Simms sprung a surprise in Group 5, claiming a 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 14-12) victory over second-ranked Mia Lakhani to rise from third place and qualify for the knockouts. Lakhani had almost taken down the top-ranked player, Rachael Iles, but Iles prevailed 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7) and topped the group.
In the three-player Group 3, Emily Cheung having withdrawn, Bethany Ellis unsurprisingly took top spot, but the lower-ranked Alisha Dutta upset Jessica Morris in four to join Ellis in going through to the knockouts.
Group 7 saw Lianna Shilani Tousi upset higher-ranked Chui-Que Wong to go through behind group winner Naomi Coker. Shilani Tousi shaded their clash 3-2 (11-2, 11-7, 5-11, 12-14, 11-9), Wong having earlier prevailed narrowly over Evie Knaapen by another 3-2 margin (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 12-14, 15-13).
Ella Pashley led the way in Group 6, as expected, with Millie Noble following her into the knockouts. But Noble had to fight to overcome fourth-ranked Luna Archard 3-2 (4-11, 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7), while Archard was also beaten in five by Melissa Withers, who came from 2-1 down to prevail 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7).
Maliha Baig and Jonabel Taguibao went safely through Group 2 as expected, though Taguibao had to come from behind to beat Greenhouse Sports colleague Parrmis Ahsani 3-1 (9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-6).
Cadet Boys’ Singles
Larry Trumpauskas added the title to the Cadet National Cup trophy he won earlier this season, the third seed beating fifth seed Ralph Pattison 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-8).
Both boys had flown in from the WTT Youth Contender Linz last night, along with top seed Jakub Piwowar, and their luggage had gone astray in the process, meaning they were playing in borrowed and hastily bought kit – their all-important bats were carried in hand luggage.
In the semi-finals, Trumpauskas needed four to beat fourth seed Ollie Maric-Murray (13-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7) and Pattison was done in three (8, 7, 5) against seventh seed Yiannis Kazantzidis.
All the quarter-finals were decided in three straight – Trumpauskas overcoming Joseph Dennison (3, 7, 11), Maric-Murray getting past Harry Randall (7, 5, 7), Pattison dispatching Leo Nguyen (8, 9, 5) and Kazantzidis seeing off Francesco Bonato (7, 9, 7).
The last 16 featured a clash of two of the top three seeds, after Trumpauskas finished second in his group. He had to play top seed Jakub Piwowar and rose to the occasion, winning 12-10 in the fifth after a good match had swung one way then the other.
Fred Jones, who had beaten second seed Kacper Piwowar in the groups, could not advance from the bottom of the draw, going out in four to Bonato.
Group stage
Third seed Larry Trumpauskas, fresh from reaching the last 16 of the under-15s at the WTT Youth Contender Linz, came a cropper to second-ranked Leo Nguyen in Group 3.
It was 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-9) to the Devon player, who went on to top the group, having earlier turned around a deficit to beat fourth-ranked Wilson Tram 3-2 (8-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11).
Trumpauskas won his other two matches to also make it safely through, although a last-16 clash against top seed Jakub Piwowar was probably not in his pre-event plan. Tram overcame James Donald to finish third.
Zac Greenhough stepped up brilliantly from No 4 in Group 5 to qualify behind the top-ranked Ralph Pattison. He beat second-ranked Max Radiven 3-1 (11-8, 11-13, 13-11, 11-7) and then followed up by sinking third-ranked Hugo Nguyen, also in four sets.
A big battle between the top two in Group 2 went the way of second-ranked Fred Jones, who overcame Kacper Piwowar 3-2 (11-8, 11-13, 7-11, 15-13, 11-5), saving a couple of match points on the way. Piwowar won his other two matches in three straight to make sure he still went through.
Janak Shah rose from No 3 in Group 6 to get into the knockouts with top-ranked Joseph Dennison. The key match saw Shah overcome higher-ranked Ben Dunkley, coming from 2-1 down to triumph 3-2 (11-9, 3-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8).
Isaac Kingham and Joseph Cooper went through from Group 8 as expected, though Cooper had to shake off a stubborn Adam Alibhai 3-1 (13-11, 13-11, 7-11, 11-5) to confirm his place in the knockouts.
In Group 1, Jakub Piwowar and Francesco Bonato were the top two, as per ranking. The battle for third went the way of Noah Van Hoorebeeck in a rollercoaster match with Joel Smith, the former winning it 3-2 (14-12, 11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 11-6).
Ollie Maric-Murray, seeded four, topped Group 4 and second-ranked Abraham Sellado also went through, but only after overcoming Teagan Khazal 3-2 (3-11, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5). Fourth-ranked Khazal also lost in five to third-ranked Louis Cheung-Turner. Maric-Murray’s three victories were all by 3-1 margins.
Group 7 went with seeding as Yiannis Kazantzidis topped the standings ahead of Harry Randall. The battle to be group winner was the longest match of the group and Kazantzidis edged it 3-2 (18-16, 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5)
Cadet Girls’ Doubles
Sienna Jetha & Naomi Coker, playing together for the first time, nipped a possible comeback in the bud to defeat opponents Connie Dumelow & Kate Watkinson 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 14-12).
It was possibly a match too far for the beaten finalists, who had sent the top seeds Maliha Baig & Bethany Ellis packing 3-1 (11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9) in the semi-finals.
The other semi-final was also a four-setter and Jetha & Coker recovered from losing the first games to take it 3-1 (10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6) against Mia Lakhani & Jonabel Taguibao.
In the quarter-finals, a brilliant comeback by Dumelow & Watkinson eared them a semi-final place as they beat Parmis Ahsani & Eleanor Turner-Samuels 3-2 (4-11, 12-14, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7).
There was another equally noteworthy match in the bottom half of the draw, which went the way of Lakhani & Taguibao as they sneaked past Chui-Que Wong & Caron Charles 3-2 (11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-13, 16-14).
Baig & Ellis beat Millie Noble & Melissa Withers in three, while it was the same margin for Jetha & Coker over Eva Eccles & Mia Longman.
Cadet Boys’ Doubles
Top seeds Jakub Piwowar & Ollie-Maric-Murray continued their productive partnership as they stepped up from winning the under-13s title in 2019 – the last time doubles national champions were crowned.
It was three straight in the final as they overpowered second seeds Larry Trumpauskas & Yiannis Kazantzidis 11-7, 11-5, 11-8.
The semi-finals saw Piwowar & Maric-Murray overcome Ralph Pattison & Isaac Kingham 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12), while it was a tight three-setter for Trumpauskas & Kazantzidis against Joseph Dennison & Francesco Bonato (16-14, 13-11, 11-7).
The only quarter-final not to be over in three straight was the one in which Trumpauskas & Kazantzidis made it through – they needed four against Fred Jones & Noah Van Hoorebeek.
Dennison & Bonato versus Kacper Piwowar & Abraham Sellado, Pattison & Kingham against Leo & Hugo Nguyen and Piwowar & Maric-Murray over Joseph Cooper & Louis Cheung-Turner were all done in three.
Joseph Cooper & Louis Cheung-Turner showed great fight to overcome Harry Randall & Max Radiven in the preliminary round, eventually progressing 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9).
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