Max Radiven and Sienna Jetha took the under-13 singles titles on day one of the Mark Bates Ltd U11 & U13 National Championships.
Top seed Jetha retained her title, defeating Eva Eccles in the final, with Millie Noble and Isabella Turner-Samuels taking bronze. It was a first title for fourth seed Radiven, who beat second seed Leo Nguyen in the final. Kacper Piwowar and Abraham Sellado were bronze medallists.
In the doubles, Jetha made it a double gold, partnering Alisha Dutta to the girls’ doubles title, while Abraham Sellado & Kacper Piwowar took the boys’ doubles trophy.
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Girls’ Singles
Sienna Jetha retained her title without dropping a set all day, a dominant performance which culminated in a 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-6) victory over second seed Eva Eccles in the final.
The bronze medallists were Millie Noble, who was defeated 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5) by Jetha in one semi-final, and Isabella Turner-Samuels, who lost 3-1 (5-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5) to Eccles.
The quarter-finals were all done in three straight. In the top half, Jetha and Noble beat Hannah Saunders and Mia Chan respectively, while in the bottom half Turner-Samuels defeated Alyssa Nguyen and Eccles saw off Eve Knaapen.
In the first round, there was a superb comeback by Saunders, who defeated Mauli Shah 3-2 (11-13, 7-11, 12-10, 11-4, 12-10), and Nguyen was equally challenged in getting past Melissa Withers 3-2 (2-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 13-11).
Group stage
Fourth seed Brooke Morris went out of the tournament as she was beaten by both Mauli Shah and Isabella Turner-Samuels in Group 4.
Shah won 3-0 (7, 3, 5) but it was much closer against Turner-Samuels, who prevailed 3-2 (11-6, 13-11, 8-11, 13-15, 11-9) after staving off a fightback by Morris. Turner-Samuels beat Shah in three to top the group.
Hannah Saunders topped Group 7, the second-ranked player getting the better of top-ranked Evie Knaapen in a switchback five-game match (11-5, 5-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9).
Saunders’ Peterborough Archway club-mate Amber Lemmon climbed from No 3 to No 2 in Group 1, going through with dominant top seed Sienna Jetha.
Lemmon’s key victory was over the higher-ranked Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska, in four, but she was also pushed by Bly Twomey in the tightest match played all day, Lemmon eventually winning 3-2 (12-10, 11-13, 10-12, 13-11, 12-10).
Rahmani-Walentynska was edged out 3-2 (5-11, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9) by Sophie Hooley in the same group.
The second-ranked player made it through in Group 5 as Man Nga (Mia) Chan overcame Alyssa Nguyen – last year’s U10 and U11 champion – 3-2 (11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6). Inaya Zasella had a titanic battle with Samantha Rupapa in the same group before emerging the 3-2 (11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 12-14, 11-3) victor.
Group 6 went as per seeding as Melissa Withers and Isabella Hamer went through. The tightest match in the group saw Akshita Subramanium come from 2-1 down to defeat Zoe Gonpot 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8).
Group 2 also went with seeding, as Eva Eccles led Anisha Kant through. There were a couple of five-setters, the unfortunate Martha Wild missing out 12-10 in the decider against Kant and also against Cindy Xiao.
The top two also advance in Group 3, Millie Noble and Alisha Dutta taking accolades. Noble, as expected, won the group as she defeated Dutta in three (8, 8, 5). Millie Ufton won from 2-0 down against Evie Turner-Samuels, 11-9 in the decider), but lost in five to Scarlotte Mills.
Boys’ Singles
Fourth seed Max Radiven claimed his first national title with a 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4) victory over second seed Leo Nguyen in the final.
After a tight opening two games left the match poised at 1-1, left-handed Radiven took the initiative and powered through the next two on a wave of confidence.
Radiven earlier sunk the top seed Kacper Piwowar in the semi-finals, the left-hander seizing his first match point opportunity to win 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9).
Second seed Nguyen overcame third seed Abraham Sellado in the other semi-final, by a 3-1 (11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8) margin.
The only quarter-final to need more than three sets was the clash between the Nguyen twins, the left-handed Hugo taking the first set but seeing his right-handed brother come back to win 3-1 (8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6).
In the three-setters, Piwowar and Radiven beat Janak Shah and Prayrit Ahluwalia respectively, while Sellado set up a match against Leo Nguyen by defeating Adam Alibhai.
Back in the first round, Shah had to stave off a comeback before beating Parsa Yamin 3-2 (11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 4-11, 11-6). At the same stage, Hugo Nguyen had a narrow squeak against Alexander Graham before coming through 3-2 (10-12, 11-4, 14-16, 11-3, 11-5) to set up the match against his brother.
Group stage
There was a three-way countback in Group 7 to decide who went through with group winner Adam Alibhai and it was James Wang who got the verdict.
Wang defeated Wilson Zheng, while Zheng beat Parsia Ahsani and Ahsani overcame Wang. The scores were all 3-1, so it went down to points and Wang’s differential of 69-62 was marginally better than Ahsani (68-62) and Zheng (69-64).
Parsa Yamin rose from fourth place to qualify second from Group 3 behind the group’s top player, Abraham Sellado. Yamin took the scalps of last year’s U10 champion, Teagan Khazal, as well as Sahil Tekurkar. Yamin and Khazal also took a set off Sellado but neither could convert it into victory.
Top seed Kacper Piwowar won Group 1 at a canter, but the second-placed qualifier had to be decided by countback. Phillip Snell, Dan Caroe and Winston Hill all beat each other – Caroe overcoming Snell 13-11 in a decider – and it was Hill who went through once the maths had been done. Hill had won two other matches in a fifth – overcoming Eesah Jamaluddin 11-9 and Angad Saggu 11-2 in the deciders – so it was a hard-won qualification.
Nishil Shah climbed from third to second in Group 2 to advance behind second seed Leo Nguyen.
Shah’s key victory was over Charles Donald, who he beat in four (11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8). In the same group, Noah Byrne-Smith earned a five-game victory over Ryan Goodier (11-8, 10-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7).
Group 6 saw Shahuraj Nimse climb to second place from third ranking to join top-ranked Prayrit Ahluwalia in the knockouts.
Nimse beat second-ranked Pablo Ramirez Rioja in four but lost to fourth-ranked William Wu in five, but the victory over Ramirez Rioja meant he went through on head-to-head record.
Nimse also played five games against Albert Hyseni, winning the decider 11-7, hile Hyseni beat Wu 11-3 in a deciding set.
In Group 4, top pair Max Radiven and Theo Kniep made it through with relative ease, though Kniep needed five to beat Sultan Adeleke (11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9).
Lewis Wu won two matches in the fifth, beating Euan Hacking and Adeleke, while Adeleke himself won in five against Aryan Sarma.
Hugo Nguyen and Sam Davies made it through as expected in Group 5, but both needed five games to defeat Zain Hussain.
Davies had to come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 (6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8), while Nguyen won 11-9, 11-2, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8).
Group 8 was straightforward for the top two, Janak Shah and Alexander Graham – the former won their clash 3-0 (6, 7, 2) to top the group.
Girls’ Doubles
Sienna Jetha notched another national title, but it was a first for Alisha Dutta as the London Academy duo teamed up to take the gold.
The top seeds were up against second seeds Melissa Withers & Millie Noble in the final and did not allow their opponents a foothold as they claimed a 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-6) victory.
Both semi-finals went the distance and there was the distinct possibility of an upset as Jetha & Dutta trailed 2-1 to Alyssa Nguyen & Hannah Saunders.
But the top seeds turned it around to make it to the final courtesy of a 3-2 (10-12, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6) scoreline.
In the bottom half of the draw, Withers & Noble had to stave off a comeback by Isabella Turner-Samuels & Eva Eccles. The comeback had looked unlikely at the end of the second game, but the momentum shifted abruptly – before the second seeds manage to arrest their decline and take the match 3-2 (14-12, 11-2, 4-11, 2-11, 11-7).
All four quarter-finals had gone as expected and all in three games.
Boys’ Doubles
Top seeds Abraham Sellado & Kacper Piwowar edged a tight final against the second-seeded Nguyen twins, Leo and Hugo.
The match hinged on the third game, when the winners had three strokes of luck in three rallies – moving from 13-14 down to 16-14 with the aid of edge, net, edge to take a 2-1 lead.
They were then able to close out the match and take the title 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 16-14, 12-10).
Sellado & Piwowar needed four in their semi-final against brothers Janak & Nishil Shah, seeing their opponents level but recovering to win 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7).
The Nguyen brothers progressed from their semi-final with a three-straight (7, 8, 8) victory over Max Radiven & Adam Alibhai.
In the quarters, the Nguyens recovered from losing the first game to Shahuraj Nimse & Parsa Yamin to win 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6). It was also four sets for the Shahs as they beat Teagan Khazal & Euan Hacking 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8.
It was three games in the other quarter-finals as Radiven & Alibhai beat Sahil Tekurkar & Theo Kniep (6, 7, 3) and Piwowar & Sellado defeated brothers Lewis & William Wu (6, 4, 8).
There was a pulsating first-round tie which saw the Wu brothers defeat Pablo Ramirez Rioja & Charles Donald 3-2 (11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5).
All the other ties were done in three, with the exception of a 3-1 (11-3, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6) victory for Tekurkar & Kniep over Angus Priestley-Tonner & Ryan Goodier.
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