Top seeds Sienna Jetha and Max Radiven lived up to billing as they won the Cadet National Cup titles.

Both champions had 100% records across two days of intense competition as the best players in their age group faced each other in the round-robin tournament at St Neots TTC.

Girls

Sienna Jetha took the title as she lived up to top seeding, finishing unbeaten and one win ahead of second seed Eva Eccles, who she beat in the final round.

Bronze went to third seed Alyssa Nguyen, who won six of her eight matches – the girls played one fewer because of the withdrawal of Violet Lily Marquis.

Fourth seed Marquis picked up an injury and had to pull out after two matches, beating No 7 Bly Twomey and losing to No 6 Brooke Morris.

That meant that while the top three seeds all finished the first day unbeaten, third seed Nguyen had played one game fewer than both Jetha and Eccles.

Although the top three racked up the best possible 14 wins between them, they did not have things all their own way.

In the first round, Eccles had to come from 2-1 down to defeat ninth-ranked Mauli Shah 3-2 (11-5, 8-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5) and, in the second, Nguyen fought off a spirited comeback by seventh seed Bly Twomey to win 3-2 (11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 3-11, 12-10).

Both Nguyen and Jetha needed a decider in round four – Nguyen overcoming fifth seed Millie Noble 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9) and Jetha beating Twomey, who again recovered a 2-0 deficit before Jetha prevailed 3-2 (11-3, 13-11, 6-11, 5-11, 11-9).

Jetha had a moment of genuine crisis in the fifth round as she trailed 2-0 to Morris, but she preserved her 100% record with a fine comeback, winning 3-2 (4-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8).

Eighth-ranked Alisha Dutta finished the day in fourth thanks to a couple of good victories – 3-2 (8-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10) against London Academy colleague Shah in round four and 3-2 (3-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6) against 10th-ranked Evie Knaapen in round five.

Another notable match saw Morris overcome Noble, ranked one place above her, 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 10-12, 13-11) in the opening round.

Day two started with 3-0 wins for Jetha and Nguyen over Noble and Knaapen respectively, while Eccles had her blank fixture due to the withdrawal of Marquis.

Dutta cemented her reputation as the event’s comeback queen with a 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9, 11-7) win over Twomey – but she then saw the boot on the other foot in round seven as she was defeated 3-2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4) by Morris.

Jetha had her break in round seven, and was able to watch Nguyen’s unbeaten record fall as she was defeated 3-0 (7, 7, 7) by Eccles, who maintained her own perfect run.

There was also another five-game match in which Shah came from behind to beat Noble 3-2 (5-11, 13-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4), while Twomey beat Knaapen in four.

The top two won again in round 8 to set up their decisive match for the gold medal – Jetha beat Nguyen in four and Eccles overcame Knaapen in three.

Dutta yet again came from behind to win in five – 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7 against Noble – while Twomey had an even better comeback as she won 3-2 (7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7) against Morris.

So Jetha and Eccles both reached the final round unbeaten, and the gold medal up for grabs. It went with seeding as Jetha prevailed 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-6).

Nguyen was assured of bronze, but she made sure anyway with a 3-0 (8, 8, 8) win over Shah.

Noble got her first win, beating Twomey 3-1 to ensure every player finished with at least one victory, while Morris pended with a 3-1 win over Knaapen.

Finishing order: 1 Sienna Jetha, 2 Eva Eccles, 3 Alyssa Nguyen, 4 Alisha Dutta, 5 Bly Twomey, 6 Mauli Shah, 7 Brooke Morris, 8 Evie Knaapen, 9 Millie Noble

Boys

Top seed Max Radiven confidently dispatched second seed Kacper Piwowar in the final round to seal the gold medal and leave his opponent with silver. Fourth seed Abraham Sellado took the bronze medal.

The medallists had all finished day one unbeaten. In contrast, Pablo Ramirez Rioja finished the first day winless – but on another day might have had one or more in the ‘W’ column as his first three matches all went to five.

The sixth seed, he was slated to play all five athletes ranked above him, in ascending order, and he first pushed Adam Alibhai (No 5) to 12-10 in the fifth.

His second match saw him defeated 3-2 (6-11, 14-12, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8) by Sellado, and his third was a 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7) reverse to third-ranked Leo Nguyen.

The top two seeds had fewer problems with Ramirez Rioja, both winning in three. Both Radiven and Piwowar did drop games on the first day, however – Radiven to eighth seed Angad Saggu in round three and Piwowar to seventh-ranked Dimitar Dimitrov in round three and to Alibhai in round five.

Sellado also remained unbeaten – he dropped a game to Dimitrov in the first round and to Alibhai in round three and, as well as being taken the distance by Ramirez Rioja, also went to five before defeating Nguyen 3-2 (14-16, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5) in the final round of the day.

The fifth round saw two more five-setters as ninth seed Prayrit Ahluwalia beat Dimitrov 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5 and Saggu beat 10th-ranked Shahuraj Nimse from 2-0 down, eventually winning it 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8).

Alibhai was in fourth place at the end of day one, courtesy of a victory over the higher-ranked Nguyen, but with the top three unbeaten and no one else having more than three wins out of five, it meant someone needed a special second day to break into the medal positions.

Something had to give in the first round of day two as Sellado and Piwowar met – and what a match it was, characterised by long, fast rallies and which went to deuce in the fifth.

Sellado led 1-0 and trailed 2-1 but forced the decider and both boys led at times in the fifth. Piwowar was first to bring up a match point and, though Sellado saved that, he could not repeat the feat two points later in a superb closing rally.

The final score was 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10 in Piwowar’s favour and ended to prolonged applause as the final match of the round to finish.

Radiven maintained his 100% record with a 3-0 win over Alibhai, Nguyen beat Nimse in four to retain outside hopes of a medal and it was also four as Ahluwalia beat Ramirez Rioja. Dimitrov saved two match points in the fourth against Saggu, but could not convert it into victory as Saggu won it 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6).

Sellado had an opportunity to bounce back from his defeat to Piwowar as he faced Radiven in round seven, and it was yet another to go to the wire as Sellado forced a decider from 2-0 down.

It looked like his momentum would continue into the fifth when he took the first three points, but Radiven worked his way back into the match and three well-constructed points from 8-8 saw him seal it 3-2 (11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 10-12, 11-8) to preserve his unbeaten record.

Piwowar stayed in control of his own gold medal aspirations with a 3-0 win over Nguyen, while Alibhai came from 2-1 down to defeat Ahluwalia 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8).

Nimse picked up his first victory with a close 3-0 (13, 8, 9) win over Dimitrov, and it was a close four-game match as Saggu overcame Ramirez Rioja 12-10, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8.

Going into the final two rounds, the top two were assured of gold and silver between them, and they both won again – Radiven in three against Nguyen and Piwowar in four against Nimse.

Sellado stayed in the bronze medal position by beating Ahluwalia in four, while Alibhai remained fourth with a win in three over Saggu.

Dimitrov got his first win in a see-saw clash with Ramirez Rioja, taking it3-2 (11-6, 2-11, 11-9, 1-11, 11-8).

Radiven and Piwowar met in the deciding match, and it went to Radiven in three (6, 5, 4) – the winner’s confidence sky high by the end as Piwowar had no answer.

Sellado confirmed bronze by defeating Saggu in three, while there were wins for Nimse over Ramirez Rioja, Nguyen over Ahluwalia and Alibhai over Dimitrov, all in four.

Finishing order: 1 Max Radiven, 2 Kacper Piwowar, 3 Abraham Sellado, 4 Adam Alibhai, 5 Leo Nguyen, 6 Angad Saggu, 7 Prayrit Ahluwalia, 8 Shahuraj Nimse, 9 Dimitar Dimitrov, 10 Pablo Ramirez Rioja