Venier wins 12s Moderates title
James Smith and Emma Venier each won two titles at the Norfolk Under 12s moderates tournament for non-county players. In the first semi-final of the boys singles Smith beat Aidan Grange in a very close match 21-17, whilst Jacob Trend came out on top in the other semi, narrowly beating David Maddox.
Smith then claimed the title by beating Trend 21-13 in the final. He then won his second title of the day when he teamed up with Grange to take the level doubles, which was played on a round robin basis. The runners-up were Maddox and Ryan Driver, who conceded just one game - to the champions, In the girls singles, Jess Allen won the first group, giving away very few points, with Ayla Burridge taking second place.
The second group was very close, ending in a three way tie between Emma Venier, Lauren Mortimer and Kathryn Baker, who, unfortunately, missed out on a semi-final place by just one point. In the semi-finals, Venier beat Allen 21-16 and Mortimer triumphed over Burridge 21-17. The final was a very tense affair. Mortimer got off to a flying start and, at one stage, she was 10-1 up, but Venier settled down and started to pull back the score, eventually winning the match and the title 21-19.
Venier then partnered Allen to win the girls doubles, with the scratch pairing of Kathryn Adamson and Ayla Burridge taking second place.
* The Under 14s Eastern Region Tournament, played at Sudbury, was very much about enjoyment, with the seven counties taking part given the opportunity to play lots of games.
Norfolk finished in sixth place, but this was not a true reflection of the effort put in by all the players, some of whom were playing up from the Under 13s in their first tournament. Norfolk lost the majority of matches by three games to two, with many going to three sets, making each match very exciting. Representing Norfolk were Ben Tozer, Tom Hinks, Ed Allen, Louise Thacker, Amy Sharman and Sophie Piper.
* The county Under 17s team won their Shires League match against Lincolnshire 11-9.
The boys played very well to win all four doubles and three singles whilst the girls, three of whom were playing up from the Under 15s, supported the victory with one singles and three mixed doubles.
Team: Chris Piff, Lee Robinson, Lucas Lefevre, Kurtis Lefevre, Briony Lund, Holly Bowen, Stephanie Rowland and Serena Verney.