Brothers Jakub and Kacper Piwowar were both winners as the new year kicked off with the Cliffedale Chandlers 4*

Jakub took the Under-19 (Junior) Boys’ title, while Kacper was victorious in the Under-17 Boys’ Singles. Meanwhile, Stuti Kashyap of the United States won two titles.

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Matches in the Junior (U19) and Cadet (U15) categories contribute to the leaderboards which provide a qualifying route into their respective age group Nationals next year. Winners are automatically invited (if eligible) and points are awarded according to how far players go in the competitions. Updated leaderboards will be published later this week.

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Jakub Piwowar (pictured above, photo by Michael Loveder) had to come from 2-1 down in the Junior final to defeat Oliver Chu – the final scoreline 3-2 (11-2, 5-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-6).

Piwowar dropped only two games on his way to the final, including in a 3-1 (12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8) victory over top seed Isaac Kingham in the semi-finals.

Chu had come through the bottom half of the draw, where he had a monumental semi-final against Dimitar Dimitrov, eventually winning 3-2 (11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 12-14, 11-7).

It was a third successive five-setter for Dimitrov, who beat Theo Kniep 3-2 (8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5) in the last 16 and Pablo Ramirez Rioja 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 13-11, 10-12, 11-9) in the quarters.

The Under-19 Girls’ Singles went to the USA as Stuti Kashyap beat Sienna Jetha in the final. It was a relatively straightforward 3-0 (5, 6, 5) victory for Kashyap, who had earlier knocked out top seed Ella Pashley in the quarter-finals by the eye-catching margin of 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-1), before defeating Mabel Shute in four in the semis.

Jetha had to stave off a comeback by Rachael Iles in her semi-final before getting through 3-2 (11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 5-11, 11-5).

Kacper Piwowar edged past Max Radiven in a decider to win the Under-17 Boys’ title. Both boys led the final but it was Piwowar who took his chance at deuce in the fifth to complete a 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 13-11) victory.

The final was not Piwowar’s only lengthy match – back in the round of 32, he had to dig himself out of a hole after Noah Byrne-Smith recovered from losing the first game 11-1 to take the next two. Piwowar eventually came through 3-2 (11-1, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7).

The beaten semi-finalists were Ryan Holland, who lost in four to Piwowar, and Jake Davidson, whom Radiven overcame in three.

Kashyap also won the Under-17 Girls’ final and it was the same outcome against the same opponent as she defeated Jetha 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 12-10).

Jetha defeated Hannah Saunders 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-2) in the semi-finals, while Kashyap was a 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-8) winner over Sum Monica Chang.

Ramirez Rioja had to come from 2-1 down in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals before going on to win the Under-15 Boys’ Singles.

Theo Kniep was ahead in the quarters before Ramirez Rioja came back to win 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7), and it was Kai Lun Chow who led the semi-final, only to see his opponent triumph 3-2 (12-10, 4-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9).

In the final, it was only four games required as Ramirez Rioja defeated Dimitrov 3-1 (11-6, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4).

Dimitrov had earlier defeated Harrison Hill 3-0 (13-11, 11-4, 11-5) in the semi-finals – he was also troubled by Rishaan Sawant in the last 16, eventually coming through 3-1 (11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9).

Hill had reached the last four with fifth-game victories over Taha Shamakh, Ryan Holland and Oscar Nikolli.

Saunders was the girls’ champion in the same age group, defeating Senuli Ranasinghe 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3) in the final.

Saunders had defeated Lok Yiu Lam 3-0 (2, 8, 6) in the semi-finals, while Ranasinghe needed four to get past Amber Lemmon 3-1 (11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7).

The Under-13 Boys’ Singles was won by Dimitrov, who defeated Sai Prasanna Kumar 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9) in the final.

Dimitrov was extended in the previous two rounds, being taken to a decider before defeating Malek Shamakh 3-2 (12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7) in the quarter-finals, before overcoming Lusio Wen 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-3) in the semis.

Kumar got past Li Hao Chen 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 11-4, 11-6) in his semi-final as the two top seeds reached the final.

Lemmon won the Under-13 Girls’ Singles with an unblemished record in the knockouts, winning 3-0 all the way, ending with a 3-0 (13-11, 11-7, 11-7) win over Ranasinghe in the final, whom she lost to in the under-15s.

The semi-finalists were Cindy Xiao, who was defeated 8, 5, 8 by Lemmon, and Sophie Dodds, who lost 3, 6, 2 to Ranasinghe.