Rohan Dani and Ella Pashley took the golds at the Cadet National Cup, with both boys’ and girls’ events decided by countback.
No athlete remained unbeaten and everyone won at least one match as the top 10 in each gender met in the round-robin event at Joola Plymouth TTC.
The boys’ competition had the drama of a three-way tie at the top as Dani, Max Radiven and Isaac Kingham each won eight out of nine matches and beat each other.
All three had a 100% after day one’s five matches, but Radiven ended Dani’s perfect record in the first match of Sunday, recording a 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5) victory.
Fourth seed Dani made up for that loss in Round 7 as he beat top seed Kingham 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7), leaving second-ranked Radiven in pole position to take gold after he won a thriller against third seed Kacper Piwowar 3-2 (7-11, 14-12, 11-6, 9-11, 15-13).
All three won their Round 8 matches, though Dani had to come from 2-1 down to seventh-ranked Harry Randall, eventually winning 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5).
The final round saw the top two seeds meet, and Radiven had one hand on the trophy when he took the first two games. However, Kingham roared back to win it 3-2 (4-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7).
With Dani finishing with a win over Adam Alibhai, that meant a three-way tie – and the maths was in favour of Dani, with Radiven taking silver and Kingham bronze.
Piwowar won six of his matches to end in fourth place, with Randall and Alibhai fifth and sixth respectively with four wins. 10th seed Fernando Frandes won three matches to end in seventh place, ahead of Leo Nguyen and Janak Shah.
WTT hero Abraham Sellado, fresh from his gold medal at the Youth Contender in Spain, won two of his first-day matches, but then had to withdraw through injury and therefore ended in 10th.
The girls’ event saw the top two seeds, Sienna Jetha and Ella Pashley, remain unbeaten on day one and all the way through the first seven round – at which stage Jetha avenged her defeat by Naomi Coker in the final of the singles at the Cadet National Championships last month. It went the distance, Jetha winning 3-2 (11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 9-11, 11-8).
Pashley had come from 2-1 down to defeat Luna Archard in Round 3 but had otherwise been relatively untroubled – which made her 3-1 (11-8, 13-11, 4-11, 11-7) defeat by 10th seed Tilly Simms in Round 8 all the more remarkable a performance by Simms.
It didn’t change a great deal at the top as Pashley could still take gold with a victory over Jetha – such a result would take it to countback, but with Pashley holding the superior head-to-head record.
And that is what transpired as the Cleveland athlete won it 3-1 (13-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7).
Jetha took silver and Coker bronze, the latter getting above third seed Jonabel Taguibao, whom she beat in four games on day one.
Mia Lakhani was fifth, ahead of Brooke Morris, with Eva Eccles in seventh, ahead of Simms and Alyssa Nguyen (a late replacement for Lianna Shilani Tousi) and Archard.
Click here to view full girls’ results
Click here to view full boys’ results
Finishing positions
Girls: 1 Ella Pashley, 2 Sienna Jetha, 3 Naomi Coker, 4 Jonabel Taguibao, 5 Mia Lakhani, 6 Brooke Morris, 7 Eva Eccles, 8 Tilly Simms, 9 Alyssa Nguyen, 10 Luna Archard
Boys: 1 Rohan Dani, 2 Max Radiven, 3 Isaac Kingham, 4 Kacper Piwowar, 5 Harry Randall, 6 Adam Alibhai, 7 Fernando Frandes, 8 Leo Nguyen, 9 Janak Shah, 10 Abraham Sellado