By PETER LUC, TDTA JUNIOR PRESIDENT
Tweed District junior tennis players ended April on a high note with successful performances at the Casino Open at the weekend.
Tweed players performed well across all of the age groups, with Pottsville coach Ryan Kebblewhite joining in the success. Ryan teamed-up with Gold Coast’s Ellie Ryan to win the open mixed doubles.
Jamie Krause finished third in the under-12 boys’ singles and won the under-12 boys’ doubles while Teva Leibo finished runner up in the under-14 boys’ singles and Josh Blackburn was a semi-finalist. Teva and Josh then paired up to claim the under-14-16 boys’ doubles title.
Aaron Westerlund, 16, continued his fine form making to the semi-final of the major event, the Casino Open men’s AMT (Australian Money Tournament).
However, Tweed girls were the standouts with Hannah McDonald winning the under-14 girls’ singles and Amber Molloy winning the under-16 girls’ singles. Both girls then contested the major event, the Casino Open women’s AMT, with Hannah winning the consolation final and Amber making it to the main draw quarter-finals.
Not finishing there, the girls then paired up to make it to the semi-final of the women’s AMT doubles event.
Hannah,14, after playing earlier this month at the national junior claycourt championships has continued to show wonderful improvement and put her invaluable experience at the nationals to good use and Amber,15, continues her rise towards the national Top100 under-16 girls rankings.
Some of our juniors then headed to Inverell for the Optus Gold Junior Tournament, which also included some of Australia’s best junior players.
Highlight player for the Tweed District was Caleb Maxted.
In a compact but high quality under-16 boys’ singles field, Caleb, 15, made it to the main draw semi-final then won the consolation final, beating the third seed along the way. Caleb also made it to the under-16 boys’ doubles final to cap off a great tournament.
Tweed District’s junior winter competition start this Friday and Saturday then a group of juniors are off to Ballina to represent the Tweed District in the fourth round of the Medibank Junior Development Series on Sunday.
Tweed District Juniors
Casino Open results
U12 boys singles runner-up: Flyn Schieb.
U12 boys singles third place: Jamie Krause.
U12 boys doubles winner: Jamie Krause.
U12 boys doubles runner-up: Flyn Schieb/Tuy Schieb.
U14 boys singles runner-up: Teva Leibo.
U14 boys singles semi finalist: Josh Blackburn.
U14-16 boys doubles winners: Teva Leibo/Josh Blackburn.
U16 boys singles runner-up: Trafford McCrory.
U16 boys singles semi finalist: Zane Sillery-Shaw.
Mens AMT semi-finalist: Aaron Westerlund.
Mens AMT consolation quarter-finalists: Trafford McCrory, Manu Rowe, Blake Kebblewhite.
U14 girls singles winner: Hannah McDonald.
U16 girls singles winner: Amber Molloy.
Women’s AMT quarter-finalist: Amber Molloy.
Women’s AMT consolation winner: Hannah McDonald.
Women’s AMT doubles semi-finalists: Amber Molloy/Hannah McDonald.
Open mixed doubles winner: Ryan Kebblewhite/Ellie Ryan.
