THE final of Clevedon Lawn Tennis Club's LTA Junior Open Tournament was held at its ground in Princes Road.

THE final of Clevedon Lawn Tennis Club's LTA Junior Open Tournament was held at its ground in Princes Road.

More than 80 juniors, ranging from eight to 18 travelled from all over the country to compete in the different age groups during the week. Among them were Clevedon's own juniors hoping to take home some of the trophies, and, they were not disappointed. Sam Hedges fought off stiff opposition to take first place in the Orange Ball competition while Declan Moran came through to win the Green Ball (Under-10s). Sebastian Hind played some fantastic matches during the week to achieve a well deserved win in the boys' Under-14s and runner-up in the boys' Under-16s which was won by Seth Cunningham.

In the girls' competitions, Stephanie Allen narrowly lost to Brodie Walker in the Under-12s after three nail biting sets, while the Under-18s competition saw 15-year-old Josie Vickers battle her way through to the final where she and the eventual winner, Hayley James, treated the crowds to some sparkling tennis.

Many other Clevedon juniors took part, a large number of them competing for the first time in an LTA tournament. Paul Maggs, director of coaching at the club, said: "The standard of tennis was extremely high and just goes to show how much young tennis talent we have in the area. The enthusiasm and competitive spirit shown by all of the players was brilliant and their conduct both on and off the court was excellent.

"I am very pleased that so many of the club's juniors chose to enter as these tournaments offer them invaluable experience as well as the opportunity to achieve success after all the hard work they put in during training."

The final results were: Red ball, Tilly Scull, William Chesterman; Orange (boys), Sam Hedges (CLTC), Ben Hatcher; Orange (girls), India Britland, Caitlain Barton-Sargeant; Green (Under-10), Declan Moran (CLTC), Reece Allen; boys Under-12, Kieran Davies, Kristian Newman; girls Under-12, Brodie Walker, Stephanie Allen (CLTC); boys Under-14, Seb Hind (CLTC), Kristian Newman; girls Under-14, Hayley James, Emily Perry; boys Under-16, Seth Cunningham, Seb Hind (CLTC); boys Under-18, William Archer, Mike Frost; girls Under-18, Hayley James, Josie Vickers (CLTC).

For more information about becoming a member of the club please visit the website: www.clevedonltc.co.uk or email clevedonltc@btinternet.com

For Release 9 a.m. EDT, September 23, 1998