What a great weekend for the Falcons who participated in the GB Junior Championships on the weekend. Every player came away with at least one medal and each medal was earned through hard work and making accurate shots under pressure. When there were losses the players walked off the court with heads held high because they knew that they had played well and given their best.
Perhaps our most unexpected accomplishment came in BS13 when Cameron Bird won his opening game in his semifinal match against Demetrios Margou of Machi. Demetrios had always beaten our boys without a great deal of challenge so this was a huge step forward for Cameron. Demetrios did manage to win the match in 3 exciting games. The match drew the attention of everyone in the gym and was given a resounding applause – something rarely expected for a U13 match.
Om Patel had made his way to the finals with relative ease and then met Demetrios in the finals. Om fell in 2 games but came away with the silver medal.
Still in B13 William Nunnenmacher displayed some magic of his own. After losing his opening match he went on to win 3 consecutive 3-game matches to become the C champion.
In BS15 Morgan Gillan lost in the semifinals of A, 18 and 18, to the eventual champion. Thomas Battistini finished 2nd in C and Matthew Montross took gold in D.
In U19 Dhir Patel was seeded number one and did eventually win but only after winning a very close match in the semifinals against Tyler Blair of Bracebridge. Tyler won the first game and fought hard all the way to the end with Dhir surviving 21-18 in the third game. Shrey lost to an Alliston opponent in one of the longest matches of the day. Once in B he didn’t have much trouble in securing the B championship.
In Mixed Cameron continued his wizardry on the courts. Partnered with Alicia Lim they managed to take out the number 2 seed before finishing second A.
Dhir and Shrey partnered with girls from Midland in MxD19. Both teams played extremely well against very tough competition with Dhir finishing 2nd in A and Shrey winning the B. In U15 Mixed Morgan teamed with Claire Lim and finished 2nd in A – another strong showing. For both Claire and Alicia this was their first championships and both handled the pressure very well and contributed strongly to the success of their teams.
Sunday was devoted to Doubles. In B15 Morgan and Thomas lost their opening match but then cruised through their opposition on their way to taking the C championship. Matthew paired with a player from Bracebridge and they finished 2nd in D.
In B19 Dhir and Shrey were seeded 4th as a result of having lost their opening match in the final regular tournament of the season. They therefore had to face the number one seed in the semifinals. The boys had practiced very hard since that late season defeat and it showed as they defeated the Machi team in a tough 3 game match. This was a real confidence builder and they cruised through the final to take the A championship.
The final match of the day featured Cameron and Om in another thriller against their arch rival from Machi. Cameron and Om had unexpectedly defeated the Machi team in the last tournament of the season so we expected that team to have done their homework and be tougher this time. This proved true as the Machi team trounced our boys in the opening game. After some adjustments our boys won the second and third in two very close games that could have gone either way until the final point of the match. This was a great way to end the competitive season for (most) of the Falcons … with an A Gold!