Christ’s Hospital, Horsham
Saturday, 5th February 2022
Bart Callaghan reports: The South East Regional Schools’ Championships took place at Christ’s Hospital School on Saturday, 5 February. Although the competition was much reduced, with entries from St Olave’s School, Tonbridge School and Christ’s Hospital only, we saw much talent and determined play; in fact, it was commented that in the Singles we witnessed some of the finest games ever played at the tournament. In total 21 Singles matches and 12 Doubles matches were played.
In the Singles, Tonbridge has great success, taking all but one spot in the semi-finals of the U18 competition. Although CH did not manage to make it through to the semi-finals, their players performed with considerable grit and pushed their opponents hard; the U18 plate was won by Hughes (CH), who played with great consistency throughout the day. Some superb play in the semi-finals of the main competition led to an epic final between Hudson (Tonbridge) and top seed Nsenga (St. Olave’s), in which Hudson managed to grind down his opponent over three gruelling games. In the U16 section, there were close finals in both the plate and main competitions, with Tonbridge taking the top spot in the main competition and CH securing the plate. Lacewing (CH) fought valiantly against Woolf (Tonbridge) in the main final but was unable to prevail in the face of the consistent pressure applied by Woolf.
The afternoon hosted the doubles competitions, which were played as round-robins. Both U18 & U16 competitions were fought hard and with good spirit, resulting in Tonbridge 1 being victorious in both. The U18 competition ended with Tonbridge 1 defeating CH 1 with clinical precision in the final match of the day. There was also a particularly close game between Tonbridge 1 & CH 2 in the U16 competition, which almost resulted in the top seeded pair losing their clean streak.
Scores
Senior Singles
Semi-finals: G. Nsenga (St Olave’s) bt M. Freudenheim (Tonbridge) 11-1, 11-7; N. Hudson (Tonbridge) bt. M. Campanale (Tonbridge) 11-5, 11-9
Final: Hudson (Tonbridge) bt Nsenga (St Olave’s) 11-8, 5-11, 11-7
Plate: M. Hughes (CH) beat O. Hanger (CH) 15-6
Senior Doubles
1st Tonbridge I (M.Campanale & N.Hudson); 2nd CH I (M.Hughes & T.Worth); 3rd Tonbridge II (M.Freudenheim & G.Slater); 4th CH II (O.Hanger & C.Udokporo)
U16 Singles
Semi-finals: O.Woolf (Tonbridge) bt L.Saunders-Aroma (Tonbridge) 11-4; C.Lacewing (CH) bt A.Cliff (Tonbridge) 12-11
Final: Woolf (Tonbridge) beat Lacewing (CH) 11-4, 11-7
Plate: O. van Huet Lindeman (CH) bt F.Edelman (Tonbridge) 15-6
U16 Doubles
1st: Tonbridge I (A.Cliff & O.Woolf); 2nd Tonbridge II (F.Edelman & L.Saunders-Aroma); 3rd CH I (C.Lacewing & O. van Huet Lindeman); 4th CH II (A.Hannavy & Z.Mukhayer)
Tonbridge U18 Singles champion
Tonbridge U18 Doubles champions
Tonbridge U16 Singles champion
Tonbridge U16 Doubles champions