THE best junior tennis players from around the region hit Tamworth’s Treloar Park courts last weekend ahead of this weekend’s Northern NSW Champions of Champions in Inverell.
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The Tamworth tournament acted as a seeding event for the Champions of Champions finals, with the top eight in U9s through to U17s from the Junior Development Series jostling for seeding positions.
“It’s the first time we’ve played a seeding event,” North West Tennis Academy’s Jarrod Campbell said.
“We’ve done it for a couple of reasons.
“One, it gives the kids hard matches playing under the same conditions as they’ll get in Inverell – pool structure and full sets.”
They don’t always get full sets in the JDS tournaments.
“It also gives us our seedings for the Champions of Champions,” he said.
In the past, one of the best players might have only been able to get to one or two tournaments so might have been been seeded sixth or seventh.
The Inverell tournament will see the top eight from North West going head to head with the best from the North Coast.
“There’ll be four North Coast players and four North West players in each pool and two pools per age group,” Campbell said.
New Gunnedah club champion Andrew Osmond continued his good form and will go into this weekend as the top North West seed in the 15s boys, while sister Emily will hold top mantle in the 17s girls, and Sam O’Gorman, who Osmond beat in the semi-finals in the Gunnedah championships, will carry the number one in the 17s boys.
Laura Jeffery finished on top in the 15s girls, Logan Dries the 13s boys and Danielle Bishop the girls, Cooper Wilkinson the 11s boys and Avril Gardiner the girls, and Michael Walsh and Jade Wilson the 9s boys and girls respectively.
“The kids will play five games on the first day and two on the second,” Campbell said.
The top four in each age group will then go through to the play-offs, with the top eight from the tournament going on to play in the State Finals at the end of October in Sydney.
“It’s a highly prestigious event,” Campbell said.
“It’s an event all the kids from the North Coast and North West put into their diaries as a goal.”
Prior to the weekend’s games there’ll be a training day today.
Tennis’ NSW’s Callum Beale will run that with assistance from Campbell and Armidale’s Justin Sherriff.
