Connor and Anna Green appropriately notched a twin victory within minutes of each other to take the Junior Boys’ Singles and Junior Girls’ Singles titles to end the Mark Bates Ltd Cadet, U17 & Junior Nationals on a memorable note.
But beaten finalists Ben Piggott and Tianer Yu, amidst their undoubted disappointment, can be proud of the parts they played in two superb finals which both went to the wire.
Bronze medals went to Scarlett Anders and Ella Pashley in the Girls’ event and to Larry Trumpauskas and Jakub Piwowar in the Boys’.
Previous reports
Junior Doubles
Cadet & Under-17 Singles
Cadet & Under-17 Doubles
Click here to see all the results
Photos by Michael Loveder
Girls’ Singles
Anna Green eventually got across the line in the last match of the Championships, taking her seventh match point to defeat top seed Tianer Yu.
With her twin brother Connor watching on, having finished his match just as fifth seed Anna brought up her first three match points at 10-7, the family tension must have been at an all-time high.
It only got higher, as Yu fought so hard to add the title to the Under-21 and Under-17 crowns she already has to her name, saving more match points at 11-10, 12-11 and 13-12.
But, crucially, she never engineered a chance of her own and Green’s steely determination got her to the top of the podium – the final score 3-2 (6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 15-13).
Green earlier ended the hopes of sixth seed Ella Pashley in the last four, winning their clash 3-1 (11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9).
Yu’s semi-final was relatively more straightforward as she saw off third seed Scarlett Anders 3-0 (4, 6, 7).
In the quarters, sixth seed beat second seed as Pashley earned a 3-0 (6, 7, 7) victory over Cadet champion Sienna Jetha.
Anders had a real battle against Mabel Shute, the eighth seed, all the more surprising after Anders won the first 11-1. Shute hit back, twice levelling, before Anders completed a 3-2 (11-1, 7-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8) victory.
Mia Lakhani took the first game against Green, but the fifth seed recovered to win 3-1, while Yu continued on her serene way with a 2, 1, 5 victory over Rebecca Savage – an identical score to that by which she had beaten Rachael Iles in the first round.
Lakhani had earlier upset fourth seed Maliha Baig in the first round, recovering from 2-1 down to post a memorable 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7) victory.
Seventh seed Megan Jones was also knocked out in the first round, losing out 8, 9, 3 to Savage.
Anders was given an almighty fright by Brooke Morris, having to save a match point in the third before completing a 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-8) comeback victory.
Second seed Jetha was also kept honest by Eva Eccles, who twice levelled before Jetha stepped it up in the decider to win 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3.
Group stage
With the top two going through in every group, in the order expected, surprises were in short supply.
Group 5 probably came the closest to seeing any upsets before Anna Green and Rebecca Savage made in through, Savage having to dig in to avoid defeat to fourth-ranked Hannah Saunders, prevailing 3-2 (8-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4).
Savage subsequently led the match between the top two 2-0, but in a mirror image of her previous match, saw Green come back to win 3-2 (7-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3).
Saunders had a measure of consolation as she defeated third-ranked Luna Archard 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6) in the third comeback of the group.
Rachael Iles followed winner Ella Pashley through in Group 6, as expected, but she needed a comeback 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7) win over the group’s fourth-ranked player Mauli Shah, doubtless buoyed by her Cadet Girls’ Doubles victory alongside Sienna Jetha yesterday.
Jetha won her three matches in Group 2, though did drop a game to second-ranked Brooke Morris before coming back to win 3-1 (12-14, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6).
Morris finished second by needed all five games before defeating third-ranked Parmis Ahsani 3-2 (6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8).
In Group 8, Mabel Shute and Saskia Key duly qualified in the top two positions, though Key almost reversed the expected order before Shute prevailed 3-2 (11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-6) in their clash.
Group 4 was won by Maliha Baig, ahead of Jonabel Taguibao, as the top two again made it safely through. It was 3-1 (11-5, 16-18, 11-3, 11-5) to Baig when they met.
Scarlett Anders and Bethany Ellis made it through as Group 3 finished in the ‘correct order’, Anders winning 6, 7, 9 in the match between the top two.
In Group 7, Megan Jones and Mia Lakhani were expected to qualify, and did – the match between them was 3-1 (11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8) to the higher-ranked Jones.
Top seed Tianer Yu was untroubled with three 3-0 victories in Group 1. She was joined in the knockouts by second-ranked Eva Eccles, who was taken to four by Anna Piercey in the only match in the group to go beyond three.
Boys’ Singles
They say the cream rises to the top, and so it did as top seed Connor Green took the title – but, boy, was he made to work by opponent Ben Piggott
The third seed from Cleveland took the first two games and Green admitted he was at a bit of a loss for a response. But find one he did, coming back to win 3-2 (12-14, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8).
In the semi-finals, Piggott came from a game down to beat unseeded Jakub Piwowar 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9).
Piggott overcame a major crisis in the quarter-finals as he faced two match points against eighth seed Felix Thomis. But he reeled off four successive points to leave his opponent reflecting on what might have been. The final scoreline was 3-2 (9-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10).
Trumpauskas got through in a tight four-setter against unseeded James Hamblett, winning it 11-7, 13-15, 11-9, 13-11.
Piwowar and opponent Gabriel Schogger came over all old school in the middle of their quarter-final, Piwowar taking the victory 11-8, 21-19, 11-6.
Green finally dropped a game, but it did not upset his progress as he knocked out sixth seed Joseph Hunter 3-1 (11-5, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5).
Second seed and U17 champion Ralph Pattison surprisingly departed in the last 16 as Schogger inflicted a 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-6) defeat.
Fifth seed Naphong Boonyaprapa also exited, though finishing second in his group meant he had to face eighth seed Thomis. It was 3-0 (9, 3, 9) in left-hander Thomis’ favour.
The other seed to fall was Toby Ellis, another who finished second in his group – he went out 2, 8, 4 to Trumpauskas.
The Piwowar brothers faced each other at a national level for only the second time – they had previously met in a Cardiff Grand Prix – and the older sibling Jakub won it in four in a match which featured several high-class rallies but in which Jakub overpowered Kacper at key moments. The final score was 3-1 (10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9).
Max Radiven pushed No 3 seed Ben Piggott to a fifth – the younger player led 2-1 but Piggott came through 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7).
Group stage
Kacper Piwowar beat two higher-ranked players to set up a last-16 tie against . . . his older brother Jakub.
Piwowar almost won all three matches, but was defeated 3-2 (11-13, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6) by top-ranked Joseph Hunter in his first match. But he came back to beat Rohan Dani, the second-ranked player, 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10) – he was 10-4 up in the decider.
Hunter was also taken to five by Harry Randall but won that one 3-2 (11-8, 11-1, 10-12, 10-12, 11-5).
In the final two matches, Piwowar beat third-ranked Randall in four to seal second place, and Hunter claimed the expected top spot with a 3-0 win over Dani.
James Hamblett beat the fifth seed, Naphong Boonyaprapa, to win Group 5. It was 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-7) in favour of the second-ranked Hamblett.
Boonyaprapa still made it through, but was extended by Leo Nguyen before winning 3-2 (11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8). Nguyen then lost another five-setter as Francesco Bonato came back to win 3-2 (9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8).
Seventh seed Toby Ellis also had to settle for second place in Group 7 as he was defeated 3-1 (9-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-5) by second-ranked Jakub Piwowar.
Beaten Cadet Boys’ Singles finalist Max Radiven upset second-ranked Adam Dennison in Group 4, going through behind beaten U17 Boys’ Singles finalist Larry Trumpauskas.
It was 3-2 (8-11, 12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9) for third-ranked Radiven against Dennison, who then himself almost defeated top-ranked Trumpauskas, going down 3-2 (11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 10-12, 12-10).
Gabriel Schogger rose from No 3 in Group 1 to qualify in second place behind Connor Green, defeating No 2 Daniel Jones in three close games (9, 8, 9). Green was faultless with three 3-0 victories.
No major alarms for Felix Thomis, who won Group 8 as expected, dropping two games on the way. But second-ranked Isaac Kingham had problems with Cadet Boys’ champion Abraham Sellado before eventually winning 3-2 (8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6) to go through behind Thomis.
It was pretty routine as well for top two Ben Piggott and Krish Chotai in Group 3, Piggott winning their clash in four.
And Group 2 was a similar story as Ralph Pattison and Joe Dennison took their expected 1-2 in the group – though Dennison had to shake off third-ranked Joseph Marlor 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4). Marlor later beat Ben McKay in five (7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5).
Latest news
